


Seven Little Queens

by Aphistas



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Gen, Horror, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-05-26 18:47:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6251392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aphistas/pseuds/Aphistas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Trixie and Adore come up with the idea to drag their closest friends with them to spend a vacation in an isolated cabin, no one could have expected the danger that lurked in the surrounding forest. </p><p>What will happen to these seven little drag queens? That is up to you, the reader, to decide as fatal choices will be given to you to vote upon that will affect the outcome of this story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So, this is a little horror fic that has been plaguing me for a while but has only just now decided to be written. This will be similar to a “Choose your own adventure” story, except that I’m not writing 50+ potential chapters, haha! For each chapter, you will be given two options to choose from, and each choice has a 50% chance of being fatal for any of the surviving characters. Each and every character has the potential to be killed. No character is safe (including my Violet whom I will be very upset about if you get killed). 
> 
> To vote, just leave a message in my ask box on tumblr or leave it down in the notes with your choice. Spam voting is not only allowed but encouraged if you really want to see your choice play out. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Anything and everything horror related may or may not appear in this story which includes: monsters, character death, gore, blood
> 
> Good luck, and I hope the characters you want to live will and those you wish to kill off do as well (though I may rage if you get my Violet killed).

                                               

                           

  
Violet rolled her eyes as Trixie explained the plan. “No.”

Trixie sighed and crossed her arms. “Come on, Vi. Don’t be such a spoiled princess.”

“Your queen, I may remind you.” She smirked.

Trixie groaned before she turned to look at Katya and Pearl. “You two convince her.”

Pearl leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms. “Me? Why should I? It’s your idea, and I only agreed because I didn’t feel like putting up an argument against it.”

“Ugh. You are of absolutely zero help.” Trixie rolled her head to face Katya. “Katya, please?”

Katya widened her eyes. “Me? What do you expect me to do? You know how stubborn she is.”

Violet crossed her arms with a smirk as she sat down on Trixie’s hotel room bed. She had no real interest in going out into the middle of nowhere with little to no connection to the outside world for a brief vacation. How Trixie and Adore had not only come up with the idea to rent a cabin in the woods but had also put down a payment for seven of them to actually stay at one, Violet couldn’t even begin to guess. They must have been drinking especially if they ever thought Violet would agree to go with. She was a city boy and she liked being a city boy.

Trixie shook her head at Pearl and Katya. “You two can suck my dick.”

Katya grinned. “Really?”

Trixie grimaced. “Ugh. Later, maybe.” She pointed her finger at Katya. “I’m still upset with you though.” After admonishing Katya, Trixie turned back to Violet. Her shoulders dropped as she saw how confident Violet looked with herself. “Come on. There’s gotta be something I can do to make you change you mind.”

Violet’s eyes wandered up to look at the ceiling as an idea came to her, one that involved her ever present suitcase. With a grin, she turned to look Trixie dead on. “I think I may have an idea.”

~~~

“Why did I ever agree to this lame brain idea?” Bianca asked as she tossed a duffle into the back of the rented seven seat minivan she picked up early that morning.

“Because you can’t say no to us?” Courtney asked with a smile.

“And we’re fuckin’ adorable,” Adore added as she took a bite out of a chocolate bar.

“Ha!” Bianca tossed another bag covered with a random assortment of patches – Adore’s – into the vehicle. “You’re both idiots. Where on earth did you even get this stupid idea in the first place?”

“Well,” Adore said, “Trixie and I got to talking one day after that pride thing we did together – you know the one, right? – about how hard it is to see any of our sisters because of how much traveling we all do, you know? And then we started talking about how much fun camping would be, but not like real real camping because then everyone would complain and no one would go with us, and I really want a real toilet and a fridge anyway, and after a few beers, we ended up looking up cabins to rent, and Trixie placed a payment for one, and then Trixie got Katya, Pearl, and Violet to agree to go, and I got you two, and now we’re all going to go! It’s gonna be awesome.” Adore giggled as she popped the last of her chocolate bar into her mouth. A little smeared on the edge of her lip.

Bianca rolled her eyes. “Of course. Whenever I want to hang out with my sisters, I always think of going camping in the middle of nowhere with limited communication with the outside world.”

“Oh, come on, Bianca,” Courtney wrapped her arms around Bianca’s shoulders, “it’ll be a fun adventure for us all.”

Before Bianca could reply, the door to Pearl’s apartment building where they had all agreed to meet slammed open as Violet stomped out with her two duffles of various sizes as Trixie and Katya followed right after with cautious expressions on their faces. Pearl meandered behind them as she pulled out a cigarette and lit up for a quick smoke before she got stuck in a vehicle with a seething Violet and an annoyed Bianca Del Rio.

“I still can’t believe that I not only agreed to go to this shit show, but who thought it’d be a good fucking idea for all of us to be crammed together in a single car.”

“It’s a mini van though! It’s bigger than a normal car…”

Violet focused her glare onto Adore as she dropped her bags onto the pile as Adore scurried behind Bianca.

Bianca smirked as she reached down to grab one of the bags from the pile. She had decided she’d arrange them all so everything would fit securely; she certainly didn’t trust Adore to keep it neat and organized. “You know, maybe this will be fun.”

Adore lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah. It should be fun watching Violet kill you all.”

Violet grinned as Adore gasped.

“She wouldn’t!” Adore turned her big eyes towards Violet. “You wouldn’t right.”

Violet crossed her arms. “No promises.”

~~~

After all the bags got packed and they all chose their seats, they were off to their cabin in New Hampshire. Bianca drove and Courtney had claimed shotgun. Violet, after threatening to disembowel them all, laid claim to one of the two middle seats by a window along with Pearl while Adore and Trixie got regulated to the back for having the hair brain scheme in the first place along with Katya who, as a Miss Congeniality winner, went with the flow. It didn’t hurt that she got to sit next to Trixie for the seven hour drive though.

As they drove, every time a song would come up on the radio that either Adore, Trixie, or Courtney expressed enjoyment in, Bianca would change the station with a smirk, one that Violet would echo once one of them would complain.

“Shut your pipes. Driver picks the music; the rest of you assholes can shut your yaps!”

“But that was such a good song. Did you have to change it?”

“I most certainly did. It’s the little things I take enjoyment it, like seeing your disappointed faces.”

Courtney sulked in her seat while Adore pulled out her iPhone and headphones to listen to music. Trixie, while annoyed with Bianca’s behavior, just shifted in her seat until she and Katya were as comfortably snuggled up together as they could be in the back of a minivan.

As they started to get close to their cabin destination in Vermont, Courtney pulled out a paper map after her phone’s connection started to slow down too much for the GPS to accurately guide them.

“You sure there’s cell reception there?” Courtney asked.

Adore pulled out an earbud. “Yeah, like, the ad totally said that it had good reception, right Trix?”

Trixie opened up her saved file with the details of their trip. “Yeah, it states that we will enjoy our time away from our television and other distracting ‘devices’ but that cell phone reception is pretty good.”

“The definition of pretty good better be the same as mine,” Violet grumbled from her seat as she glared at Pearl who had her mouth hanging open as drool slid down her chin. She had somehow found away to sleep through the majority of the drive.

Katya smiled as her eyes darted between Trixie, who was frowning, and Violet, who was sulking. “Hey, so long as we can still make a call, we should be safe from any axe murderers, right?”

Courtney whipped her head to look at back at Katya. “Wait, you don’t think there will really be any murderers there, do you?”

Bianca gave her eyes a quick roll as she sped on down the highway. “Great, thanks for that, you whore. Now guess who’ll be up all night because of sounds throughout the night. Here’s a hint. It’ll be the one shaken awake by the blond asking, ‘What was that?’ ‘Did you hear that?’ ‘You don’t think it’s anything bad right?’ Just shoot me now.”

“Hey,” Courtney turned sad eyes towards Bianca, “I’m not that bad.”

Bianca briefly glanced at Courtney before she silently returned her attention to the road.

Courtney huffed as she leaned back into her seat. “It was only the one time.” Her eyes looked down at the map in front of her. “It was your idea to watch that movie in the first place,” she said under her breath.

Violet rolled her eyes. “If anyone even thinks about interrupting my beauty sleep, believe me, there will be hell to pay.”

Trixie’s head fell onto the backrest as her eyes closed. “Why did I think this was a good group to go with? What was I thinking?”

Katya chuckled as she leaned her face into Trixie’s neck. “You were thinking with your southern head and not your northern one.”

Trixie opened her eyes as she gaped at Katya for a moment. “What? I was most certainly…” her head dropped forward, “yeah, you’re right.”

As Courtney directed Bianca to turn down a dirt and grass road that led to their cabin far from civilization, the uneven road caused the car to jerk and jump with each bump and hole. The jerking of the car finally woke Pearl from her slumber.

“Wha’s goin’ on?” Pearl asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“Oh, sleeping beauty is finally awake,” Violet grumbled as she looked out at the scenery of green foliage and mountains in the distance.

“Ugh,” Adore moaned from the back, “this” the car rolled over a bump, “is,” the left front wheel dipped into a hole, “making me,” the car rolled up a large bump right before nosediving into a large hole, “sick.”

“You better not puke, Delano,” Violet said as the car stilled in the hole. “We still have to use this piece of junk on the way back.”  

“Well,” Bianca said as she pressed on the gas. The car revved but did not move. “That might not be much of an issue.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Bianca said nothing as she opened up her door and jumped out to survey the damage. “Yeah, this thing’s going nowhere. We could maybe lift it out, well, if we weren’t all a bunch of sissy fags that is,” Bianca glanced up the road that was littered with more holes, “but I don’t think it’s quite worth it to finish the drive when it’s probably just going to get stuck again.”

The rest of the queens piled out of the car.

Violet smirked. “So, we get to go home then? Call a tow and leave?”

“Wha’?” Adore looked back and forth between Violet and Bianca. “But, party?”

“Hey, Adore’s right. We already paid for this, so we should tough it out. We can do the drive, right?” Trixie asked.

Bianca rolled her eyes. “If you think this car will make it the rest of the way without something breaking, you really are a moron.”

While they bickered, Courtney made her way to the back of the car and pulled out Bianca’s and her bags. She made her way back over to the group and tossed Bianca’s bags over to her.

“Oomph!”

“Hey, we can all just hike it out. It’ll be healthy for us!”

Violet frowned. “Really?”

Katya grinned and headed to the back to grab a few bags and toss them to their respective owners. “Yeah, that’s a great plan, Court!”

“Who said I came here to be healthy? I planned to be boozed out this entire trip.”

Violet rolled her eyes at Pearl as she took her bag from Katya. “Fine. Whatever. How far is it anyway?”

A two and a half mile hike with their luggage later, made heavier with Violet’s glare on all of them, they finally made it to the two cabins – one larger main cabin and one smaller cabin primarily meant for sleeping. It was fairly quaint in appearance. The cabin sat in the middle of a large open field surround by trees and Israel's River.

“Finally,” Violet said as the group made their way to the main cabin.

Trixie opened the door with the key she had, and when the door swung open, Violet’s, Pearl’s, and Bianca’s faces dropped.

“This is it?”

“There’s nothing fucking here!”

“What do you expect us to do here?”

“Hey.” Katya placed her hand on Violet’s shoulder, just confident enough that Violet wouldn’t bite her hand off. Hopefully. “This’ll be fun. We’re all friends–”

“We’ll see how much longer that lasts.”

“And,” Katya continued, ignoring Violet’s comment, “I’m sure Adore and Trixie have something planned for our first night here.” She turned wide eyes towards the two aforementioned, pleading for them to come up with something before Violet’s patience finally snapped.

“Oh, yeah! Duh! Of course we do.” Adore bent down and opened one of her bags only to pull out various alcohol bottles and cocktail ingredients. “Party!”

~~~

By the time the sun had fully set, all of the queens – barring Katya who enjoyed recording the proceedings for blackmail purposes later as she laughed her head off – were shit faced.

“So, you enjoying yourself now, Princess?” Trixie asked as she slid to the floor and dragged Katya down with her.

“Your fucking queen!” Violet cackled.

“On the least talented season,” Bianca hiccuped right before taking another sip of beer.

Violet’s mouth fell open as her cocktail sloshed off the rim of the cheap plastic cup they brought with them. “You bitch!”

“The one true queen bitch, you whore!”

“Settle down you two,” Katya said with a grin as Trixie leaned against her. “You’re both pretty bitches with great dicks.”

Violet laughed as she fell back to lean against Pearl who had sprawled out in the corner of the couch with a potent drink in hand. “True that.”

Before the conversation could continue, the lights flickered out.

Adore screamed. “Oh, my god! What the fuck just happened?”

Katya and Pearl grabbed their lighters and flipped them on; Pearl could only manage it due to years of practice of lighting up while wasted. The two small glows from the small flames and the glow from the moon and stars lit the room.

“Cool it, muppet. A fuse probably just blew or something.”

Courtney stumbled up into a standing position. “Hey, I can go check it out,” she said with a giggle. “It’s just outside, right?”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “You’re drunk. I don’t know if I trust you not to find a way to blow the place up.”

Courtney giggled. “No, I’m Drunk-ney!” She bent in half to laugh at her own joke, and like a virus, it spread to the rest of the queens as they all fell into fits of laughter. “But seriously,” Courtney let out a small giggle before she straightened back up, “I know how to do this.”

Bianca waved her off. “Fine, fine, but if you come back scorched, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Bianca…” Courtney whined.

“Hey,” Katya interrupted before the alcohol could make Courtney too emotional, “Courtney can totally handle this. It’s just a fuse box after all.”

“Yeah!” Courtney nodded her head as she swayed in place. “I’ve totally got this!” Courtney then marched herself to the door and opened it. She looked out into the dark night. The only light to guide her came from the glow from the moon. She turned back to the group. “Though, if one of you wanted to join me, that would cool too. Bianca?”

“Hey, you volunteered. You can handle it, remember?”

Courtney looked at Adore who lay sprawled on the floor.

“Don’t look at me, man. I’m wasted as fuck.”

Bianca shook her head. “You know Adore will get us all blown up somehow anyway.”

Courtney turned to look at the rest. Pearl was far too gone to be of any help. Violet had been close to murdering all of them throughout the day, so it was not worth it to upset her further, and Trixie had clearly had one too many drinks by that point which left Katya.

“Katya?”

* * *

~~Now, you the reader have a choice to make. A or B?~~

~~A.) Katya, seeing how drunk Courtney is, agrees to go with her to check the fusebox~~

~~B.) Katya tells Courtney that she has faith in her own abilities but gives Courtney her lighter~~

~~You will have 48-72 hours to cast your vote(s).~~  
~~**[Submit your choice to my ask box](http://chachki-liaison.tumblr.com/ask) ** ~~


	2. Chapter One

**_Last Time_ **

_You were given a vote. With a vote of_ **11** _to_ **3** _, the winning choice goes to:_

_A.) Katya, seeing how drunk Courtney is, agrees to go with her to check the fusebox_

* * *

Katya let out a breath of air. “Yeah, Court, I’ll go with you.”

Courtney jumped in place and clapped her hands as a grin covered her face. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Trixie whined and reached her arms out as Katya shifted from beside her stand up. “Ugh…But cuddles…”

Katya chuckled as she stood up and stretched her arms up in the air, making her back pop. “It’ll only be for a short while. I’m be back in no time at all, Babe.” She bent down and placed a quick peck to Trixie’s lips before she turned her attention back to Courtney. “Ready, Aussie?”

A grin spread across Courtney’s face as she gave Katya a salute. “Ready!”

As Courtney turned and trotted outside, Katya followed at a more moderate place. As Katya followed Courtney around the corner of the cabin, she asked, “Don’t you think a flashlight would have made this easier?”

“But it would have ruined the beauty of the light that the moon gives off! It’s so pretty.” Courtney spun around in a circle as she followed the wall of the cabin to the far end.

Katya chuckled. “The moon is pretty, but a flashlight wouldn’t have made it less pretty, just easier for us to see.”

“But maybe the moon would have gotten jealous of us using the flashlight and wouldn’t be as bright anymore.” Courtney turned around and began to walk backwards.

Katya let out a bark of laughter. “You really are Drunkney tonight!”

“Thank you!” She shivered. “It’s a little cold, isn’t it?”

Katya chuckled. “Well, that’s what you get for wearing bootie shorts and a thin T-shirt.”

Courtney giggled at Katya as she walked backwards, and she bumped into the fusebox. After she spun around, she yelled, “I found it!”

“That you did.” Katya finished making her way over to Courtney who had been staring at the fusebox like it was a technological wonder. “Now, flip it on, and let’s get back inside.”

“K!” Courtney smiled as she opened up the box only to wind up staring at it. “Wait…I don’t ’member what to do now…”

Katya rolled her eyes with a grin as she stared at Courtney. “Well, do you see that–”

A branch snapped in the distance behind them. Both Courtney and Katya spun around to look at the woods.

Her hand to her chest, Courtney asked, “What was that?”

Katya shook her head. “Probably just some animal.” Katya turned back to the fusebox. “Let’s just get this on so we can get back inside.”

“Yeah,” Courtney said, though her eyes remained focused on the trees.

Katya sighed as she reached around Courtney to flip the switch that should bring light back to the cabin.

“Is that a wolf? Or maybe it’s a coyote…”

Katya turned around, and sure enough, a canine stared back at them from the tree line. It’s eyes seemed to glow yellow in the moonlight. It was thin, extremely thin. Katya could see its ribs from where she stood. It looked ill, diseased probably.

“I think it’s time to head inside, Courtney.”

“But what do you think it is?”

“I think it doesn’t matter.  We’re going inside now.”

“K…”

Katya grabbed Courtney’s hand and began to pull her behind her. After only a few steps though, Courtney’s feet stopped moving, forcing Katya to halt. “What is it, Cour…” Katya started to say until she saw the canine heading their way in a slow trot.

“Wh-what is that?” Courtney asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Katya could say nothing as she watched the canine seemingly start to elongate as it began to bound towards them. Its limbs stretched and became long and lanky. Fur spread into small, patchy spots when its skin seemed to be pulled taut as its body stretched out and grew. Its paws became talon-like claws, sharp and deadly looking, as its jaw seemed to unhinge as it opened its giant maw as it raced towards them. The sight of fangs spurred Katya back into moving.

“Court, we have to go, now!” Katya turned and pulled Courtney behind her.

However, Courtney, still intoxicated and frozen in shock, stumbled and tripped behind Katya.

“Ah!”

“Fuck!” Katya turned and grabbed Courtney’s other hand, and she yanked Courtney up only to turn back around to go back to pulling Courtney behind her. The snarls and pants made Katya’s heart pound in her chest.

Halfway down the wall, Courtney stumbled again and dropped Katya’s hand.

“Shi–”

“AHHH!” Courtney screamed.

Katya turned and saw that the creature had its jowls around Courtney’s right leg. Fangs pierced though the fat and muscle.

“Help!” Tears pooled from Courtney’s eyes.

The creature shook its head. Crack. It was faint, though it echoed in Katya’s ears. The creature had snapped Courtney’s leg.

Out of breath from her last cry, Courtney’s scream had no volume to it as she blacked out from the shock and pain.

At the sound of the bone breaking, Katya reached down and grabbed her shoe and threw it straight at the creature’s head. “Let her go!”

The creature dropped Courtney’s leg. It stared at Katya for a moment, seeming to eye her up. Before Katya could grab her other shoe though, it leapt at her, teeth aiming for her throat. Katya fell backwards and her head hit the side of the house, and she lost vision.

~~~

Lying on the ground, the night air chilled Katya’s skin. She lifted her hand up and rubbed her eyes. “Why am I…” Before she could finish her thought, the memories came rushing back. Katya sat up with a start, and she saw a trail of blood the led to the forest. “Fuck!”  

Katya jumped to her feet, and the world spun out of focus for a moment. “Shit, fuck, not now.” Katya closed her eyes and swallowed. She took a deep breath and let it out. When she opened her eyes again, her vision had steadied itself, and she took off and ran back into the cabin.

She threw the door open. “Courtney’s gone!”

Bianca squinted up at Katya from her sprawling spot in the big chair. “Wait, what?”

Anger burned inside of Katya, a rare feeling for her. None of them would be of any help in their current states. “Fuck it.” Katya stormed to her bag where she knew she had a flashlight buried somewhere. “Courtney’s been taken by some fucking creature, and you’re all too fucking plastered to be of any goddamn help.” As she ranted, she threw random clothes and toiletries around her.

While Pearl and Violet just stared at Katya in shock, neither had ever seen Katya actually angry with them, a confused expression crossed Adore’s face. “Wait, what? A creature?”

“A fucking monster creature dragged Courtney into the woods.” Katya pulled out her old red flashlight. “Aha!” Katya stood up and grabbed her sweatshirt and slipped it on as she trotted back to the door.

Trixie’s eyes widened as she struggled to sit up straight. “Wait, where are you going?”

Katya groaned. “I’m going to go find Courtney before she gets killed!”

Violet shifted away from Pearl as she stared at Katya with wide brown eyes. “But if there is something out there, what if it gets you too?”

“I am not abandoning her!”

“I’m coming too,” Bianca said as she stood up, though she had to grip the side of the couch as she swayed, still tipsy.

“Sorry, but you’ll slow me down right now. Maybe once you’ve sobered up, you can come find me if I’m not back.” With that, Katya turned and darted out the door.

Bianca’s heart pounded in her chest as she stared at the now empty doorway. “Fuck!” With her chest tight and the beat of her heart pounding in her ears, she headed to the sink. The room spun a little as she walked into the kitchenette. Vague sounds of chatter filled the background, but the rapid thump, thump of her heart drowned out the words. She began to fill a glass with water. Courtney was missing, taken by some animal, or a creature if Katya was to be believed, and here she was too fucking wasted to do anything to help. She drank. Maybe if Bianca hadn’t let her go fix the lights, she’d be back inside. Maybe if Bianca hadn’t gotten drunk, she’d have been there to do something rather than leave it up to Katya. Maybe…

With a yell, Bianca threw the glass at the wall, only to watch it shatter. The room became silent and still as the four younger queens all looked at her with various expression of fear across their faces – fear over what happened to Courtney, fear over Katya’s anger, fear over Bianca’s rage.

“What the fuck are you bitches waiting for? Time to sober up!”

~~~

Katya followed glossy drops of blood, which glistened under the light from her flashlight, over the dirt paths between the trees. She had no idea how far into the woods she had gone. Every time she heard a howl, a shiver would run down Katya’s spine and her head would snap in every direction as she prayed she wouldn’t see the creature staring back at her.  

After a while though, the blood became harder and harder to spot.

“Courtney?” she called out, though not as loud as she would have liked. The creature could be anywhere after all.

Katya stumbled around the darkness with only the light of her flashlight to guide her; the dense trees blocked all light from the moon. Occasionally, Katya would see some snapped twigs and head in their direction as she hoped that the were caused by Courtney and not some random animal from earlier.

As she walked, her eyes darted around everywhere and her ears picked up on every little noise. Owls hooted and screeched. Leaves rustled with every breeze. Crickets chirped. Rodents scampered through the underbrush. The soft sound of crying echoed in the wind.

Katya stopped. Wait. Crying? “Courtney?”

The crying tapered off. A soft voice, barely more than a whisper, responded back. “Katya?”

Katya lowered her voice as she stepped in the direction she thought she heard it come from. “Where are you?”

“O-over here.”

Katya hunched over as she walked with slow, measured steps towards the noise. “Over whe–ah!” As Katya placed her foot down, instead of landing on firm earth, it hit the absence of anything. Katya slipped, and, at the last moment, shifted enough that she just landed on her ass. On the ground, Katya looked over and saw a large, black hole in the earth.

“A-are you okay?” Courtney’s voice came from the hole.

“Y-yeah. Are you down there?” Katya heard a sniffle in response. “Can you get out?”

A beat of silence, and then Courtney responded. “No. I can’t move my leg.”

Katya took a breath. “I’m coming down.” With that, Katya jumped into the hole.

~~~

Once the queens in the cabin had flushed their bodies enough to be steady and mobile, Bianca turned to look at the group. Adore looked panicked, eyes wide and wet and she sat hunched in the big chair. Trixie shook a little even though she stared at the door with a mix of determination and worry. Bianca couldn’t get a read on Pearl, her face carefully blank, though she looked more alert than Bianca was familiar with. Violet, however, looked similar to how Bianca felt – determined and pissed off.

“I’m going to go find Courtney and Katya.”

“Not alone you’re not,” Violet said as she crossed her arms.

Trixie whipped her head over. “I’m going too.”

Bianca sighed. “Look, we can’t all go.”

“Why not?” Pearl asked as she lit a cigarette before placing her lighter back into the pocket of her jeans, uncaring over the cigarette rules at the moment.

“No, Bianca’s right. What if they come back and we’re all gone? Someone should stay behind.”

Bianca nodded at Violet’s insight. “Exactly.” Bianca turned to Adore who had tear tracks down her face as she stared at her knees. “Adore, think you can stay and give us a call if they show up?”

Adore turned her big, brown, and wet eyes to Bianca. “Y-you don’t want me going with you?”

Bianca’s chest ached. “No, I don’t.” Bianca leaned over and pulled Adore into a tight hug. “I want you safe, here in this cabin where you can lock the door and windows, and with you being here, you can give me a call if Katya or Courtney show up so we know to stop the search. Can you do that for me?”

Adore nodded her head into Bianca’s chest.

“Good.” Bianca ran her hand through Adore’s hair. “Is your phone charged?”

Adore nodded. “I’ll plug it in though just in case.” She bit her lip as her eyes welled up again. “Do… Do you think Courtney’s alright?”

Bianca bit her lip before she could respond, for once unable to find the right words. “I’m sure she will be. I’ll find her, give her a good tongue lashing when we all get back, and everything will be back to normal.” With that, Bianca let go of Adore and straightened up. She turned to look at the rest of the group. “Let’s go.”

~~~

After Katya landed in the hole with an oomph, she turned and shone the flashlight in Courtney’s direction. Courtney’s face, deathly pale, was covered in dirty tear tracks. She had a cut on her ear and small scratches littered everywhere all the patches of skin Katya could see – her face, her neck, her hands, her arms. Her shirt had a few tears in it and was covered in dirt and grass stains; Katya noticed a few blood stains as well. The worst though was her leg. Gashes with pus and blood dribbled out while dirt and mud had embedded itself into the larger gashes and puncture holes the fangs had caused.

“Fuck.” Katya stripped off her sweater, and after wiping away some of the larger chunks of filth, she wrapped it around the leg in hoped that it could at least slow the bleeding a bit more. As she wiped some of the filth from Courtney’s leg off, she had seen something white, and she had to swallow back bile and push what she saw out of her mind to avoid puking.

Courtney squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as Katya manipulated her leg. It hurt almost more than anything she had ever felt before. The only thing that had hurt more was how she had gotten it.

After Katya tied the sweater tight, she stared at the fabric with worry on her face. “I-I don’t know what else to do.”

“I-it’s fine. I’ll be okay… Right?” Courtney’s voice quivered as she shook.

Katya nodded her head. “Yeah, right. Of course you will be.” Katya, unable to look at Courtney straight on for long, only half believed what she said. Instead of looking at Courtney, Katya looked around the dirt hole. It almost looked like a small cave with how big it was at the bottom. “How’d you get down here in the first place?”

Courtney looked down at the ground. “I-it, the thing, it dropped me for a moment. It started to sniff the air, and when it wasn’t looking, I crawled a little to the side, and I fell. I-I don’t know where it went though…”

Katya nodded and stood by the hole’s entrance. “We should go.”

Courtney shook her head. “I can’t.”

“You can’t stay here.” Katya grabbed Courtney’s hands and yanked her up.

As soon Katya had pulled her up, Courtney became blinded by the pain as her leg refused to hold her up at all. “Ah!”

Courtney collapsed back onto the ground, Katya unable to shoulder all her weight on her own, as she let out small sobs from the pain. “I-I can’t. I-I’m s-sorry…”

“Fuck, no, I’m sorry. Shit, I didn’t mean… Fuck!” Katya punched the dirt wall.

As Courtney’s sobs tapered off, she looked up at Katya, looking for someone to find a solution out of this seemingly impossible situation. “W-what do we do now?”

Katya looked down at the ground. She hated herself for the only choice she felt she had. “I get help.”

Courtney swallowed back a sob as she shivered on the ground, her leg bent in an odd angle beside her. “You leave.”

Katya shook her head as her eyes watered. “I don’t know what else to do,” Katya took a breath and swallowed back a sob, “but I’ll get help. Together, Bianca and I, and Trixie and the rest, we can all pull you out and get you back to the cabin, and then we can get you to a hospital and then home.”

Courtney covered her mouth with a dirty hand as tears leaked down her face. “I-I get it. I do.”

Katya bent down and gave Courtney a soft hug, afraid to hurt her anymore than she already had. “I’ll be back soon.”

Courtney nodded into Katya’s shoulder, and as she watched Katya scale back up the hole, she whispered, “I’ll be here. Waiting.”

~~~

When the four of them – Bianca, Violet, Pearl, and Trixie – left the cabin, they immediately set off into the woods after the saw the blood spattered on the ground. As they walked, they would branch out in separate directions, just close enough so that they could still hear one another, as they called out for Courtney and Katya, before they’d rejoin and move on where they would then walk deeper into the forest.

Trixie didn’t know what to do. She had never seen Katya so upset before, and now both she and Courtney were missing. If Trixie had never come up with the stupid idea in the first place, to have a vacation in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, she and Katya would probably have been in bed together, cuddling under blankets with gymnastics or some Barbie movie playing on the TV. Maybe Violet would have even been with them, making it a fun, though exhausting, night of debauchery. Instead, Trixie now searched a dark forest for two people she cared deeply for, and it was all her fault. She really was a screw up sometimes.

As she lifted her leg to take a step, her foot got caught on a root. She stumbled and fell. “Shit!”

“Trix, you okay?” Pearl asked, the closet one to her as they looked around for any clues as to where Courtney and Katya had disappeared to. The red embers from his cigarette casted an eerie light in the middle of the dark forest.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Trixie stood back up and took a step forwards. A shooting pain ran up her leg when she placed weight on her foot. “Ow!”  

Bianca trotted over as Violet continued to wander in the bushes, calling out for their friends.

“What happened.”

“Trixie tripped.”

Bianca’s eyes focused on the foot Trixie was favoring. “You okay?”

“Think it’s sprained. I’ll be fine though,” she said as she began to test her weight on it. Little hisses of pain escaped her lips as she put her weight on it.

Bianca shook her head. “No, you’re too injured.”

“I’m not giving up on Katya.”

“You’ll slow us down at this rate. Go back to the cabin and wait with Adore.” Bianca placed her hand on Trixie’s shoulder. “We’ll find them. Both of them”

Trixie sighed. “Fine.”

Bianca then turned to Pearl and looked over to where Violet still searched. “They’re not here,” she called out. Violet looked up at where the other three stood. “Let’s move on.”

With that, the now trio headed further into the woods while Trixie turned back to head back to the cabin. Trixie used the trees to help her balance as she limped back, angry with herself for messing up yet again. Self loathing filled her thoughts and she walked. It was her fault they were there. Her fault her friends were missing. Her fault for fucking up and getting herself too hurt to be of any help.

“Help!”

Trixie jerked her head up at the faint sound. “Katya?”

She looked to her left where the sound came from. She then turned to look behind her at the path where Bianca, Pearl, and Violet had continued to head down for the past fifteen or twenty minutes. Who knew how long it would take her to get back to them in her current condition, and only Bianca had her phone on hand; Trixie’s had died shortly after arrival and she had liked the idea of being unplugged for a change. But would she be able to do anything in her own condition to help anyway?

“Please! Someone! Help!”  

* * *

~~Now, you the reader have a choice to make. A or B?~~

~~A.) Trixie goes to answer Katya’s call for help.~~

~~B.) Trixie goes back to find Bianca, Pearl, and Violet to lead them to where she heard Katya’s call for help come from.~~

~~You will have 48-72 hours to cast your vote(s).~~  
~~**[Submit your choice to my ask box](http://chachki-liaison.tumblr.com/ask) ** ~~


	3. Chapter Two

****_**Last** **Time**_

_You were given a vote. With a vote of_ **12** _to_ **4** _, the winning choice goes to:_

_A.) Trixie goes to answer Katya’s call for help._

* * *

“I’m coming!”

Resolved with her decision, Trixie turned to her left and sprinted in the direction of the scream as fast as she could. Her ankle ached, and her gait was uneven from her limp, but Trixie pressed on. She wouldn’t give up, not on Katya. Never on Katya.

“I’m coming, Katya,” she said in between pants. “Just hang on tight.”

~~~

After Katya crawled back out of the hole where she found Courtney, she began to retrace her steps back to the cabin.

Snap!

At the sound of a branch snapping, Katya froze. The rustling of leaves from behind her caused Katya to swallow back a scream. With a shaky breath and a flashlight clenched tight in her hands, Katya turned around.

Two glowing yellow eyes stared back at her from the shadows.

Katya lifted the flashlight up as she took hesitant steps backwards. All the while, she kept her own gaze focused on the haunting yellow eyes.

Sparse brown fur littered over stretched pale skin. Sharp pointed teeth bared from a growling semi-brachycephalic muzzle. Her heart raced with each rumbling growl that filled the air. When the light finally reached the creature’s eyes, however, it snarled and lunged.

Katya spun around and ran.

“Help!”

~~~

The pain that shot up through Trixie’s leg became more and more intense with each pounding step she took as she raced towards the screams. Part of Trixie didn’t know if she’d even make it, if her leg would just give out from underneath her before she reached Katya. However, Trixie knew she couldn’t – she wouldn’t – stop until she knew Katya was safe. Katya was everything to her.

Trixie could only see the small glimpses of the path in front of her from her swinging flashlight. Only that small beam of light and the steadily getting louder screams guided her, though the pain in her leg had started to make it difficult for her to see. Dark spots from pain clouded her line of sight.

She wheezed. Her chest felt tight as every breath she took turned sharp and painful. Sweat poured down her face as shivers raced up her spine. Her heart pounded in her chest, the only other sound she could hear other than the occasional scream.

~~~

When Katya saw a low hanging branch in front of her, she dropped her flashlight and grabbed onto it and pulled herself up the branch. She couldn’t outrun the creature, she knew that already. As quick as she could, she clambered up the tree.

Snarling and grunting filled her ears as she climber higher and higher. The bark left splinters in her hands, but she ignored the sharp stings of pain. She had to get higher, out of reach; she couldn’t let it get her, not only for her own sake, but Courtney depended on her. She promised she’d be back, that she’d bring back help, that she hadn’t abandoned her.

Tears pricked at her eyes as she hoisted herself onto the last sturdy looking branch. With a shaky breath, she looked down.

The creature stared up the tree with a snarl, though it didn’t seem to be looking straight at her anymore. Katya thought it couldn’t quite see her with how high she had climbed. With a growl, the creature slashed at the tree with its claws for a few moments before it sat back on its haunches. It then lifted its head and opened its maw.

The creature screamed.

~~~

In her hole, Courtney covered her ears. While the screaming was faint in the distance, she didn’t want to hear it. She could bear to hear it, not if it was one of her friends.

Her eyes watered as she choked back a sob. It wasn’t like she could do anything anyway. She was absolutely useless.

Courtney buried her face into the knee of her good leg as she hid in the dark.

~~~

As the screams got louder as she got closer to the source, Trixie’s chest tightened. Her heart thumped in her chest as the lump in her throat grew bigger and bigger.  

“I’m coming, Katya,” she panted to herself as she did everything she could to stay determined. She wouldn’t fail. She wouldn’t.  

With ragged breaths, Trixie rounded around a cluster of trees and bushes and came face to face with a pair of yellow eyes. She lifted her flashlight a fraction of an inch, just enough to see saliva drip from the thing’s opening jaw. It screamed.

Heart in her throat, she took an unconscious step backwards.

Her leg gave out.

~~~

“No!” Katya screamed as she watched the creature slice open Trixie’s throat with its talon like claws before her head even hit the ground.

Tears streamed down Katya’s face as she watched blood pool around Trixie’s neck as the light left her eyes.

The creature, using its mouth, ripped off a chunk on Trixie’s neck only to spit it back onto the ground with a shudder. It shook itself as it gagged for a moment – Katya hoped it had choked – before it tore a piece off of the chunk of neck to swallow.

Katya clung to the tree trunk as she watched, with blurry eyes, the creature’s skeletal shape bend and twist, as bones creaked and snapped, as it transformed once again before her eyes. However, instead of shrinking down to a smaller four legged canine, it seemed to have chosen a new shape. Katya’s eyes widened as the creature shifted to stand on two legs, as its fur slid off its pale body, as short brown hair grew thick on its head and its yellow eyes darkened to brown, a dull imitation of Trixie’s own warm and bright eyes, or formerly warm and bright.

Katya’s stomach churned as the creature looked down at Trixie’s lifeless body.

The creature, with Trixie’s stolen face, then turned to look back up at the tree. “Katya?”

~~~

As the trio consisting of Bianca, Pearl, and Violet continued deeper into the forest, Pearl groaned.

“This could honestly take forever. We’re probably not even heading in the right direction.”

“Well, you can take your flat ass back to the cabin then. I’m not stopping until I’ve found Courtney.” Bianca snapped.

Violet rolled her eyes as the two of them bickered. She just wanted to hurry up and find Katya and Courtney so they could all get back to the cabin, she could say her I told you so’s over this trip being a bad fucking idea, and then they could all just leave in the morning. Violet already began to plan out a spa day for herself. She certainly deserved it after this hellish trip.

“Look, before you start pulling each other’s hair or something, let’s fan out again.”

Bianca let out a huff of breath and nodded. “Fine.”

Violet turned and headed to her right as Bianca took the left while Pearl walked up ahead a bit as they started looking for any sign that Courtney or Katya had passed through there.

As Violet searched around her area with the glow of the flashlight, out of the corner of her eye something gleamed. Violet inched herself towards the object and bent down to pick up a stick from the ground. When she got close the the shiny object, Violet used the stick to poke at the leaves and brush them away from where they covered it.

Snap!

Violet jumped and fell backwards onto her ass. It was an old bear trap, and it had snapped her stick in two.

With her heart hammering in her chest, Violet creeped back to look at the now sprung metal trap. Using her hands now that the trap looked safe, she brushed away the leaves, and her eyes caught sight of a thin wire attached to the trap. With furrowed brows, Violet lifted the wire from the dirt ground and saw that it led into a large brush off to the side.

Curiosity grabbed ahold of Violet as she followed the wire. After pushing aside the branches of the brush, Violet discovered a narrow path laid out on the other side where the brush had been trampled down or cut away. She looked down at the brush where the wire was still entangled in something. She dropped the wire and began to push aside branches until she saw the wires attached to a cylindric object. With her flashlight, Violet shone the light on the object and saw wires connecting to various parts of it.

“What on earth…?” she asked under her breath. She let the branches drop and left the object alone as something inside her told her to avoid it for the time being. After a quick glance towards where Bianca and Pearl had gone to search, Violet turned to face the narrow path.

Something inside of her knew the path and the object were connected somehow. With curiosity gnawing at her skull, she stood up and walked through the brush and onto the path. She’d only be just a moment. Bianca and Pearl wouldn’t even realize she had left.

~~~

Back at the cabin, Adore sat on the floor as she leaned against the back of the couch with her phone in hand. As promised, her phone was plugged into the charger and into the wall in front of her. A glass of water sat beside her, half finished.

Adore let out a shaky breath.

Every creak in the walls would send shivers down her spine. It was too quiet, and she just wanted to call Bianca, ask her how the search was going, plead for her to come back, that she didn’t want to be alone anymore.

Tears prickled at her eyes. Her finger hovered over the call button.

She let out a sobbing gasp.

She was so weak. It was her fault, hers and Trixie’s that they even all ended up here in the middle of nowhere and that Courtney and now Katya were missing, and Adore was too weak and scared to do anything about it. At least Trixie was strong enough to do something to fix their mistake. What was Adore doing? Just sitting on the floor inside the cabin crying while everyone else did something useful. She really was only good for being their sloppy drag sister.

Wiping at her eyes, Adore’s finger moved and tapped her photo icon where she began to scroll through all the pictures of the three of them: her, Bianca, and Courtney. The ABC’s of drag. Courtney looked so happy in all the pictures. So carefree. Would she still be smiling when they found her? If they found her…

Adore gave herself a shake.

“No. Bianca will find her.” A lump grew in her throat. “She promised.”

A tear slid down her cheek as her breath hitched once again.

~~~

“Courtney! Katya!”

Pearl ran a hand through her hair, tired of hearing Bianca’s constant yelling. “They’re nowhere around here,” she called out. “Just like all the other times,” she said under her breath.

Bianca slumped when she heard Pearl yell. She knew she was right, even if she hated to admit it. This was just another failed location, one of many that they had looked thoroughly through for any sign of their missing friends.

Pearl, after seeing Bianca turn around, headed back to where the three originally separated from, just like they had been doing throughout the whole search.

When Pearl made her way over to Bianca, Bianca rolled her eyes as she watched Pearl light up a new cigarette. “Bitch, can’t you worry about infecting your lungs when we’re not busy trying to find our fucking friends?”

“Keeps me relaxed,” Pearl mumbled around the cigarette.

Bianca groaned at Pearl’s remark. “Violet, get your skinny ass out here! We’re moving out again!”

While Violet was usually last to meet back up with them, she usually showed back up as soon as they called for a cease in searching the area. When there was no response from Violet for about a minute though, both Pearl and Bianca focused their attention over to the right where Violet had gone to search. Neither could see any glow from a flashlight.

“Violet?”

Pearl, after a short glance at Bianca, began to head over to where Violet had been last. Bianca followed behind, close at her heels.

“Vi? You here?”

Bianca shone her own light all around the area? “Violet, get your whore ass out here right this instant!”

No response.

As Bianca’s light shone on everything, something glittered out of the corner of Pearl’s eye. She focused her own flashlight in that direction. A bear trap.

Pearl headed in the trap’s direction. The leaves surrounding it seemed oddly out of place, like something had disturbed them at some point recently. Pearl shone her light around the ground, and scuffed marks littered the ground that seemed to head into a large brush.

“Violet, I swear to God, if you were an idiot, I’m gonna…” Pearl trailed off, unable to think of what she’d do at the moment, but she promised herself that she’d come up with something by the time she found Violet.

Pearl pushed her way through the brush and came across a trail with fresh looking marks from feet following it.

“Bianca, I think I found where Violet went.”

Bianca pushed her way passed the brush to where Pearl stood. “Goddammit, Violet.”

“So, we go after her then?” Pearl took a drag from her cigarette. Ash landed on the path.

Bianca shook her head. “Violet’s a big girl. If she wants to be an idiot going off alone, then that’s on her.”

Pearl pulled the cigarette from her mouth as she crinkled her eyes at Bianca. “We can’t just leave her.”

“She’ll be fine! Courtney, on the other hand, probably is not. We need to find, and we need to find her now.”  

Pearl took a small step back from Bianca. Bianca’s rage and fear over Courtney were nearly overpowering to Pearl, and she could almost understand Bianca’s emotions, especially since they now seemed to have lost track of Violet.

* * *

~~Now, you the reader have a choice to make. A or B?~~

~~A.) Pearl agrees with Bianca and stays with her to continue the search for Courtney and Katya.~~

~~B.) Pearl disagrees with Bianca and decides to leave her behind to look for Violet.~~

~~You will have 48-72 hours to cast your vote(s).~~   
~~**[Submit your choice to my ask box](http://chachki-liaison.tumblr.com/ask) ** ~~


	4. Chapter Three

_**Last** **Time**_

_You were given a vote. With a vote of_ **1** _to_ **67** _, the winning choice goes to:_

_B.) Pearl disagrees with Bianca and decides to leave her behind to look for Violet._

* * *

As Violet followed the path before her, the light from her flashlight shone upon a small cabin. Or maybe more of a shack? Violet furrowed her eyebrows as she crept closer to the abandoned and dilapidated looking building.

“Um, well, this is creepy,” she said to herself. The silence of the forest unsettled her as she approached the old wooden door. The door looked like it was barely hanging on its frame.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Violet gripped the doorknob and twisted it. With a tug, the door inched its way open before it creaked sagged. The bottom hinge had given out.

Violet huffed out a breath. “That’s just great.” After blowing a strand of hair out of her face, Violet shouldered the door open just far enough for her to slip her slim body through.

Once she stepped inside, Violet used her flashlight to scan over the small single room. “Now, what is this place?” she asked herself. Her eyes landed on a desk. Perhaps that would have some answers for her.

~~~

Pearl shook her head. “I’m sorry, Roy. I can’t leave her behind.”

Bianca frowned as she placed a hand on her hip. “So you’re just gonna go be an idiot yourself and go off on your own. Is that it?”

Pearl sighed as she crossed her arms. “Look, I’m not leaving Violet just like you’re not giving up on searching for Courtney.”

“That is completely different! Violet walked off on her own like an idiot. Courtney is missing!”

“And Violet is too!” Pearl shouted, raising her voice for once.

Bianca froze as she stared hard at Pearl. She said nothing.

“And I’m not leaving her behind.” Pearl sighed. “I can’t leave her behind.” Pearl stared at Bianca who had said nothing for the past minute or so as Pearl took a drag from her cigarette. “Once I find her, then we’ll join back up with you. We’ll find Courtney. We will. I just–”

“Go.”

Pearl shut up. “What?”

“Just fucking go. This is taking up unnecessary time. If you want to be an idiot, just go on ahead. I’m not your mother after all.”

Pearl let out a huff of breath. “Fine. See you later.” With that Pearl turned and headed down the path Violet must have taken.

Bianca let out an aggravated sigh before she turned and headed further into the forest, away from where Violet, and now Pearl, had disappeared. The idiots.

“Courtney!”

~~~~

As Violet approached the desk, her foot got caught on something, and she stumbled.

“Shit!”

Violet quickly righted herself as turned the flashlight towards the floor where she saw a handle sticking up. A trapdoor? Curiosity piqued, Violet bent down and opened the trapdoor.

“AHHH!” Violet screamed as she fell back on her ass.

A dead human body sat in the little basement under the floor. Half of it had rotted away; more than likely, it had been eaten by bugs and vermin.

Violet covered her nose as the sealed in odor wafted through the room. A shiver raked up her spine. “Egh.” A little vomit rose up in Violet’s throat before she swallowed it back down. Violet rose up to her knees and shut the trapdoor again, sealing the body and its rank smell back underneath the floor even though the smell now lingered in the room. Ugh, she’s never forget that smell. With a scrunched up nose, Violet turned back to the desk.

“Well then, mister dead guy, let’s see just who you were.”

Violet walked over to the desk and sat down in an old, creaky wooden chair. Old ink stains and yellowed papers decorated the top of the desk. As she shifted through the papers, she realized that they didn’t seem to really yield any information, and they certainly didn’t tell her who had died way out in the middle of nowhere. The various papers seemed to just have half finished sketches or random one word notes, nothing that could actually tell her anything. Violet dropped the papers onto the desk with a sigh and moved to the drawers. The center drawer had the usual pens and shit and an old gun that she didn’t feel comfortable with touching. However, when she opened the left drawer, Violet found an old, leather-bound journal.

A small smirk rose to Violet’s lips. “Here we go…”

Violet lifted the journal out and leaned back in the creaky chair as she gently opened it. The pages were stiff and brittle, so she took care in handling them.

_‘My name is Henry Nagi, and if you are reading this, then I have departed from this mortal life. I have spent my life documenting the creatures that plagues this forest in hopes of ending it once and for all. The ghūls.’_

Violet furrowed her brows. “Ghūls?” Was Katya right in saying that a monster had taken Courtney? Violet shook her head. This had to have been just some crazy old hermit or something.

However, Katya’s anger and fear in the cabin were very real.

This journal had to be just a laugh, but just in case… Violet continued to read.

_‘The following pages contain all the information I have collected through research and my own findings as I hunted them down._

_‘If you are reading this, leave this forest. Leave it as fast as you can before they hunt you down.’_

Violet took a deep breath. He’s insane, right? Monsters don’t exist. After a second slow breath, Violet turned the page.

_‘The ghūl, commonly known in the west as a ghoul, is a cannibalistic monster._

_‘It’s origins are thought to be believed from the Middle East, though how the spirit came to the Americas is beyond me. Its natural shape is often confused with the Wendigo, the cannibalistic monster native to the northern most parts of America’s mountains. They are both large, boney with tight skin pulled across their skeletons, with sharp claws and fangs. They are also both created through the same means: they were once human, but they brought the curse upon themselves by devouring human flesh._

_‘Anyone who consumes human flesh in an area where the ghūl or wendigo spirit lives is bound to a cursed life._

_‘The similarities end there. The Wendigo is a powerful creature that uses its strength to get its next meal. The ghūl, however, still has its wits about it. Folklore often depicts the ghūl appearing in the form of a hyena or even a hound. Here, in this forest, these ghūls will often first appear as a coyote or even a wolf on occasion. With its ability to shape shift, the ghūl will trick those who have lost their way.’_

Violet could feel her heart beating in her chest as she turned the pages.

_‘The ghūl can only digest dead and rotting flesh.  It prefers the life of a scavenger, but when its food source is scarce, it will kill unsuspecting travelers and let them rot for weeks before fully devouring them. After a bite of human flesh, the ghūl can take on the guise of that human in order to lure more people to their death._

_‘I have seen a ghūl take on the guise of a young child before it lured the child’s family to their early graves. The ghūl is a savage creature with no remorse and no memory of its past life. Do not feel sympathy for it._

_‘I tried to warn them. The family. They just threatened to inform the authorities of my presence once they left the forest._

_‘They never left.’_

Violet turned the page as she felt her stomach churn.

_‘There are tricks to knowing if it is a ghūl or not. The ghūl can only speak a few words, the final few that the victim had spoken before their death. They are incapable of actual conversation. They also will always carry the stink of death upon them even when disguised.’_

“How do you stop it then?” Violet flipped through the pages.

_‘Killing the ghūl is difficult. When faced with such a foe, the only way of escape is to kill the ghūl with one blow. A second or more would resurrect it back from the dead.’_

_‘I have killed one of the ones that has resided in this forest.’_

_“Fuck.”_

Violet glanced at the notes detailing how he killed the ghoul before her eyes caught themselves on their weaknesses.

_‘The ghūl has poor eyesight; its eyes are sensitive to the light, and it only hunts at night due to this. The poor eyesight makes it difficult for it to open doors and windows as it often mistakes them for walls, so taking cover will often keep you alive until it wanders off for an easier meal, or until sunrise. Its other senses make up for its lack of eyesight though. Its hearing…’_

Sticks snapped from the outside. Violet startled at the sound. Her head turned to look at the cracked open door as her heart thumped in her chest.

A snuffling sound caused Violet to leap out of the chair with the journal clutched in one hand and the flashlight in her other. When she heard scratching on the wall of the shack, she dropped the flashlight and dove to the trapdoor. She yanked it open and jumped into it as the scratching got closer to the door, and she knelt next to the dead body after closing the trapdoor behind her.

Ghouls weren’t real, they couldn’t be.

The door scraped against the floor as it was shoved open.

But just in case, Violet would rather look a fool hiding than a take a chance facing whatever stood above her.

~~~

As Pearl followed the path, he saw a small light from up ahead. Her flashlight’s batteries had run out as she followed the path she assumed Violet had taken, so she was using her lighter to guide her.

“Violet?”

Pearl rolled her eyes and took a drag from her cigarette when no answer came. “Come on, Violet, why’d you have to wander off anyway?”

As Pearl approached the small light, she saw that it came from inside a rundown shack.

“Violet, were you seriously that big of an idiot? This place is going to collapse,” she said as shook off some of the ash from her cigarette onto the dirt path.

With a roll of her eyes, Pearl stepped though the doorway. Once she had stepped through, Pearl saw a lit flashlight laying on the ground, and she scrunched up her brows. “Violet? Where are you?”

A growl came from Pearl’s left. She tuned and held out her lighter towards the corner.

Bared, sharp teeth with dripping saliva glinted back at her.

Pearl screamed.

Her lighter and cigarette fell onto the wood floor as the thing lunged at her.

~~~

Violet had her mouth already covered when Pearl stepped into the cabin.

No…

Tears poured out of her eyes when she head Pearl scream, and her body shook from silent sobs as she listened to the growling and snarling intermixed with Pearl’s screams and gasps.

When Violet realized that Pearl had stopped making noise, she froze. She felt numb. Was she really…?

Please, no…

A slight scent of something metallic drifted in through the cracks to intermingle with the decayed flesh of who she assumed was Henry.

A crunch and a splat followed by a howl caused Violet to jump.

Violet’s eyes widened as she pressed her hand hard against her mouth.

Cracking and growling filled the room until all she heard was soft panting.

“Violet?”

Violet gasped. She made it? Did Pearl really make it?

“Violet? Where are you?”

There was no life in the voice. It was too monotonous for even Pearl.

_After a bite of human flesh, the ghūl can take on the guise of that human in order to lure more people to their death._

Violet buried her head into her knees, muffling any possible sound as her shoulders shook from repressed sobs.

“Violet?”

~~~~

“Katya?”

Katya sobbed as creature, using Trixie’s body, circled the tree and called her name.

“Katya?”

After a half hour of circling the tree, the creature using Trixie’s body shuddered and twisted back into a doglike animal before it finally left. Katya breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned her forehead against the trunk as her sobs left her shaking.

When what Katya hoped enough time had passed, she climbed down the tree. Part of her didn’t want to leave, it kept her safe from the creature after all. However, she had to get Courtney help before the creature found her again.

Once back on solid ground, Katya walked over to Trixie’s dead body. Her eyes were open, staring at nothing. No life lived behind them anymore.

“I’m so sorry, Trixie. I’m so sorry.” Katya knelt on the ground. She knew she didn’t have time to wallow in self pity, but she couldn’t help it. She needed this moment. “I love…” Her voice broke. “I loved you.” She reached out a hand and closed Trixie’s empty eyes.

~~~

The footsteps of the ghoul, for it had to be a ghoul after what she heard, had left the shack a while ago. Violet couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her hideaway though, even though it had started to feel very warm where she sat huddled in the corner. She didn’t want to face whatever was above her though even though she knew she had to find the others and tell them what she discovered. However, it wasn’t until the smell of smoke began to mingle with the acrid smell of rotted flesh that Violet knew she had to get out of there.

With a deep breath, Violet pushed open the trapdoor. She froze for a moment. It was bright in the cabin. Too bright. The sound of splintering and cracking wood met her ears.

After a quick breath, Violet climbed out of the basement and came face to face with a small, yet growing, fire inches away from Pearl’s still body. Blood surrounded Pearl, and as Violet stepped closer, she could she where the monster had torn open Pearl’s stomach. Pearl’s insides were sprawled out onto the floor by the fire. Worse than that, Pearl’s head was crushed. It nearly looked flat. Skull broken and pink, bloody flesh peaked from white bone.

The smell of cooking flesh and seeing bare bone pushed Violet over the edge. Her knees buckled, and she bent over on hands and knees as she heaved. Her body shook as her stomach expelled all of the contents of her stomach. It burned as it came up through her throat and snot clogged her nostrils, making it hard to breathe. She gasped for breath in between bouts of vomiting. The sour smell of fresh vomit still found a way to cut through her nose, and it did nothing to quell her stomach. Violet puked until nothing could come up anymore, and then she continued to just dry heave for a few minutes. Her stomach ached. She stared down at the tan, pinkish mush below her, a much more preferred sight than the one to her side.

“I’m sorry.” Violet brought her hands up to her face to cover her eyes as she kneeled on the ground. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Violet cried until the heat became too noticeable. When she looked up, the fire had taken over a quarter of the shack, burning through the old, rotten wood.

Violet stood up with a cough and grabbed her flashlight, and as she walked passed Pearl’s body, she couldn’t help but feel her heart break. Her lip quivered as she began to turn her face away.

However, a glint near Pearl caught her eye.

When Violet focused on it, she realized it was Pearl’s lighter, the one she brought everywhere. Violet moved the journal to between her arm and chest as she bent down to pick the lighter up. As she stood up again, she looked at Pearl and she gave the lighter a kiss before she slid it into her back pocket.

“I’m sorry.”

With her last apology, Violet turned and ran out of the shack. She had to get back to the cabin. She had to warn the rest of them. She had to.

~~~

Courtney curled up in her hole. It had gotten colder the later it got, and the hole provided nothing in terms of warmth. She rubbed her hands up along her arms trying to create enough friction for some warmth. At least it wasn’t cold enough for her to literally freeze. She hoped.

“Katya will bring back help soon. She will,” Courtney whispered to herself.

“Everything will be okay, and we’ll all go home in the morning. Me, Bianca, Katya, Adore, Trixie, Violet, and Pearl. We’ll all be home soon.” Courtney bit her lip as she begged the universe to let her be right this time. Please let her be right…

~~~

“Trixie! Adore!”

Adore’s head shot up from inside the cabin. “Violet?” Adore stood up from her spot on the floor and headed towards the door just as Violet slammed it open.

“Adore! There’s a monster, and it’s after us!” Violet’s head whipped side to side before she turned wide and crazed eyes to Adore. “Where’s Trixie?”

Adore took a step back. “Wait, what? Monster? And wasn’t Trixie with you?”

Violet looked back out the front door, out into the still and silent woods. “Could it have gotten Trixie too? Already?” she mumbled to herself.

Adore’s heart began to pound. “Could what have gotten Trixie? And what do you mean by too? Who else did it get? And what is it? Violet, answer me!”

Violet slammed the door shut and spun around to face Adore. “A monster. A ghoul.” Violet tossed the journal onto a side table near Adore. “It got Pearl. It’s probably what took Courtney.” Violet, with a dazed look on her face, walked over and started going through her bag. “I’ve got to warn Bianca. She needs to know.”

Adore walked up behind Violet. “Wait, Violet, stop! What do you even mean? A ghoul? What the fuck is that? And what do you mean it got Pearl? Pearl’s okay, right?”

Violet slammed her bag to the ground and she turned her head to face Adore. “Pearl’s dead!”

Adore’s hand rose to her mouth as she shook her head. Tears pooled to her eyes. “No. She c-can’t be…”

Violet’s shoulders fell as she looked at Adore. “I saw her body. It was ripped open.” Her eyes became dazed looking, like she was seeing something only she could see. It scared Adore. “So much blood…”

“Violet?”

Violet shook her head before she returned her focus back to her bag. “I’m sorry.”

Little sobs escaped Adore as she collapsed onto the couch.

Violet stared blankly at her bag before she suddenly stood up. “I have to go find Bianca, and maybe Katya and Trixie if they’re out there. They need to know what we’re up against.” Violet turned to look at Adore. “You stay safe.”

Adore stared at Violet with wide eyes before she stood up. “No. You can’t leave. Not if there’s something out there!” Adore shouted as she waved a hand at the door.

“I can’t stay here when I actually know what’s out there! Our friends are out there!”

Adore glanced around the cabin until her eyes fell on her cell phone. “Wait! You can just call and tell Bianca that way!”

Violet let out a breath as her shoulders relaxed a smidgen. “Of course. That would be smarter.”

Violet took the phone from Adore and called up Bianca. She listened to it ring once. Twice. Her foot began to tap on the floor. Three times.

“H’llo? ‘dore?”

“Bianca! It’s Violet. Katya was right, there is a monster out there. You need to get back to the cabin now!”

“Viol’? Wha’…say? …‘ster?”

“Shit! This fucking reception is awful.” Violet pulled at her hair. “Bianca, you need to come back to the cabin, now.”

“…can’t. … ‘ney…” Bianca hung up.

“Fuck!” Violet took a deep breath and just barely held herself back from throwing the phone at the wall. “I have to go find her.”

“No.” Adore grabbed Violet’s shoulder. “You can’t.” Adore’s eyes watered. “You don’t even know where to begin looking, and what if the monster or whatever finds you first?”

Violet stared at Adore for a moment. “I have to do something.”

Tears pooled down Adore’s face. “Stay here. Please?”

* * *

~~Now, you the reader have a choice to make. A or B?~~

~~A.) Violet stays in the cabin with Adore~~

~~B.) Violet goes out in search of the others to warn them about the ghoul~~

~~You will have 48-72 hours to cast your vote(s).~~   
~~**[Submit your choice to my ask box](http://chachki-liaison.tumblr.com/ask) or leave your vote down below. **~~


	5. Chapter Four

_**Last** **Time**_

_You were given a vote. With a vote of_ **6** _to_ **7** _, the winning choice goes to:_

_B.) Violet goes out in search of the others to warn them about the ghoul_

* * *

Violet’s chest clenched as she looked at Adore’s face. Her cheeks glistened with fresh tear tracks. “Adore, Danny, I-I’m sorry,” Violet paused for a moment as she took a slow breath, “but I can’t just stay here when I know that Bianca at the very least is still out there.” Violet clenched her fists. “And she doesn’t even know what we’re up against, so she’s just a sitting duck right now.” Violet looked at Adore’s worried face. Her beautiful, puppy like eyes were wide with fear, fear for Bianca, fear for her, Violet couldn’t tell. She just knew she couldn’t handle looking at them any longer.

Violet forced a small smile on her face. “Plus, you know Bianca would only stop searching for Courtney if someone literally dragged her ass back.”

Adore’s lip trembled. “But…what am I supposed to do then?”

Violet placed a hand on Adore’s shoulder. “You stay safe. Stay inside. Keep the lights on, ghouls supposedly don’t like it.” Violet let go of Adore’s shoulder, and she turned and picked up the journal before she flipped it open. “It says here that ‘if you should encounter one, freeze. The ghūl’s eyesight is very poor. Not only is it sensitive to light, but it also has difficulty distinguishing still living figures from the environment.’”

“Oh god, oh, god, oh god…” Adore’s heart pounded in her chest as tears pricked her eyes. Everyone was out there, searching and moving. Oh, god, what if Bianca was next? Oh, god…

Violet kept reading through Adore’s panic. “‘While its primary senses it uses for hunting are sound and smell, it can only visually track movement. Running will cause it to chase you, and you will not run far…’” Violet mumbled the last bit as she scanned the passage for something that would hopefully keep Adore from hyperventilating. “Oh! There it is. It says here that so long as you stay hidden and still, the ghoul will likely just get bored and leave.” Violet snapped the journal shut and looked back up at Adore. “Just stay inside, and you’ll be safe. I’ll be back with Bianca soon.”

Adore’s bottom lip trembled. “You really won’t stay.”

Violet shook her head negative. “I’m sorry.”

“What if it gets you too?”

Violet just turned away from Adore. Thinking best to keep the journal with her than let Adore read it further and cause her to panic further, Violet slid the journal into the back of her shorts before she grabbed her flashlight. “I’ll be back soon,” she said as she left without glancing back at Adore. She couldn’t let her resolve to find Bianca waver. She was the only other one she knew was still alive.

~~~

Courtney shivered as she let out a sigh in her hole. She was actually starting to feel bored which she had never expected to feel with a busted leg and a monster after her. Though it did make sense. Fear was exhausting, and she had been stuck down there for awhile. At least over an hour had passed, maybe closer to three even? She had no idea, and she had lost track of time long ago.

Courtney reached to her side and started to dig around in the dirt. Her fingers found one smooth pebble which she flicked up from the earth. A jagged pebble came up next. After a few more minutes f digging around her, she found another smooth rock. Bored, she started to toss them into the air. Maybe she could learn how to juggle? That could pass some time.

When the rocks would come down after throwing them, most of the time, they would just hit the dirt, though every time she caught one, she would smile a little to herself. It’d be fun to show Bianca and Adore what she taught herself to do. She could just imagine their reactions. Adore would smile and clap while Bianca would make some cutting comment that Courtney just knew would be filled with affection if one just knew where to look.

As she threw the rocks back up again, she thought to herself, I hope the get out of here soon.

One rock fell on her head.

“Ow!” Courtney pouted as she picked it up again as she rubbed the top of her head.

~~~

Bianca had shoved her phone back in her pocket after that horribly bad phone call. Good reception my ass, she thought.

“Courtney!”

Of course Violet had someone wandered back to the cabin, and now the idiot Pearl was on some wild goose chase after her. Bianca shook her head. She had told her that Violet was fine, and look at her, she was right yet again, just like she always was.

“Courtney! Answer me, you skank whore!”  

~~~

Adore paced inside the cabin. She had turned on all the lights like Violet had told her to, but she felt like such a failure. She was so useless. All anyone wanted her to do was sit safe in the cabin while all of them were out there searching and risking their lives trying to find their missing friends.

Pearl had risked her life.

Adore still couldn’t quite comprehend that. How? She could scarcely believe it. Pearl had been fine, perfectly healthy before she left the cabin, and now she was dead? And it had been a monster? A whatever-Violet-had-called-it?

Her stomach churned. I’m so useless!

Adore slumped down into the couch as she picked up her phone. She couldn’t even do what Bianca had asked of her because of the stupid reception. In an emotional outburst, Adore threw her phone across the room.

“I’m such a fuck up!” Adore yelled as she brought her hands up to cover her face.

~~~

Katya said her goodbyes to Trixie. Her heart felt somehow both heavy and empty. How could this have happened to them?

Trixie was gone. Any dreams of them moving in together, of them actually becoming what fans dubbed as Trixya were gone. Dust.

With a stiffness in her body and feeling emotionally numb, Katya walked away from Trixie’s corpse. She couldn’t do anything for Trixie, not anymore, but she’d be damned if she didn’t save Courtney from the same fate.

~~~

After sitting in silence for about a quarter of an hour, Adore stood up. She let out a hard breath. No more wallowing around in self-pity for her. Adore dug into Courtney’s bag until she pulled out a pink flashlight and headed for the door of the cabin. She was tired of sitting around and waiting for nothing; she was going to actually be productive. She wouldn’t go far though; she had no idea where all they had already looked, but Violet did say that Trixie was supposed to have been heading back, so Adore would check around the edges of the forest and see if she could find her. Maybe she fell down somewhere close by?

With her heart hammering in her chest, Adore stepped outside into the night.

The air was still. Only the barest shifting of leaves could be heard. An odd owl hooted.

The near silence felt stifling to such a city boy like herself.

Adore stepped away after she shut the cabin door.

“Trixie? Where are you, girl?” Adore called out, though she kept herself from yelling it too loud. Whatever a ghoul was, she really didn’t want to get its attention.

Adore approached the edge of the wood and shined her flashlight in. “Trixie?”

Nothing but trees appeared in front of the glow of the flashlight.

Adore followed the edge of the wood, keeping her steps slow and careful, mindful of Violet’s caution. She shone her flashlight again.

Nothing appeared.

Again and again, she repeated this process. Flashlight. Nothing. Flashlight. Nothing. The more times she shone the flashlight and nothing would appear, the less anxious she started to feel.

Adore’s steps became more leisurely, more of a stroll as she walked around the perimeter of the forest.

A shuffling of branches caused her to freeze.

With a low voice, Adore called out, “Trixie?”

A shuffling sound came up a little ahead of Adore and from the forest. She took a slow step forward. “Trixie? Is that you?”

She heard a weird crunching and snapping sound, and then…

“Katya?”

Adore perked up and smiled. “No, it’s Adore. Trixie, where are you?”

The shuffling of leaves greeted her ears. “Katya?”

Adore’s smile faded a bit. “No, Trixie, it’s Adore. Where are you?”

Trixie shambled out in front of her.

“Hey…” Adore stopped herself as Trixie appeared to be looking around in her direction without actually focusing on her.

“Katya?”

Adore lifted her flashlight, and Trixie snapped her eyes towards the light as it moved up until it reached her face.

Yellow eyes stared back at Adore.

Fangs began to grow out of Trixie’s mouth as her face began to morph. The thing that looked like Trixie growled.

Adore dropped her flashlight, spun around, and ran for the cabin.

Have to get inside, have to get inside, have to get in…

~~~

“Courtney! Where are you, you dumb whore?”

Bianca’s screeching led Violet straight back to her.

“There you are.” Violet bent down and placed her hands on her knees as she panted. She had run most of the way there, only stopping whenever she heard a noise, careful not to call attention to herself, but she finally caught up to Bianca.

Bianca rolled her eyes. “Yes, here I am, still looking for fucking Courtney, and unless you found her, I don’t want to hear anything from your idiot mouth after you wandered away. Did you know that after we discovered you had left, that Pearl had followed you?”

Violet’s heart clenched.

“Now that dumb whore has probably gotten herself lost, and we’ll probably have to find her too once Courtney and Katya are back in that old-ass cabin. And don’t even get me started on–”

“Pearl’s dead.”

Bianca mouth snapped shut as she stared hard at Violet. After taking a breath, she asked, “What do you mean, Pearl’s dead?”

Violet slowly straightened up as she caught her breath. “A monster, a ghoul, killed him.” Violet pulled out the journal and handed it to Bianca. She couldn’t meet Bianca’s eyes. It was her fault Pearl was dead after all.

Bianca took the journal from Violet, flipped it open, and scanned the first couple of pages. Bianca shook her head. “You expect me to believe this shit?”

Violet’s eyes snapped to Bianca. “I heard it kill Pearl!”

Bianca whipped her head up to look at Violet.

“A saw her body.” A faraway look crossed Violet’s face. “Sliced open. Blood. Dead. Fire.” Violet focused her eyes back on Bianca. “We need to get back before it kills us as well.”

“I’m not leaving Courtn–”

“Courtney’s probably already dead.” Violet swallowed. “Katya too. Maybe even Trixie; she never made it back to the cabin. If they’re not, then we can search for them in the morning when it’s safe.”

Bianca shook her head, confused by it all. She was not used to such confusion. “What do you mean by ‘safe’? If this really is such a dangerous creature, what would make it safe to search at all then?”

“It only hunts at night, so during the day, it should be in hiding somewhere.” Violet nodded her head back the way she came. “Come on. Let’s go ba–” Violet broke off as she heard a shuffling sound. She looked hard at Bianca and mouthed, Stay still, and turned her head just enough so she could look in the direction of the shuffling.

After a few seconds, Katya stepped out from behind the trees that had covered her in darkness.

“Oh, my god, thank god I found you!” Katya hurried over to the two of them.

Violet’s shoulders relaxed. Katya was alive still. Thank god.

“I found Courtney, and I need help getting her out. She’s about, I think, an hour that way,” Katya pointed behind her, “but if we hurry, we may be able to get there sooner.” Katya looked back and forth between Bianca and Violet with wide, slightly empty looking eyes. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

Bianca looked back and forth between Katya and Violet.

* * *

~~Now, you the reader have a choice to make. A or B?~~

~~A.)   Bianca tells Katya to lead the way, not waiting a second longer to find Courtney.~~

~~B.) Bianca, with a heavy heart, says Courtney will have to wait until morning.~~

~~You will have 48-72 hours to cast your vote(s).~~  
~~**[Submit your choice to my ask box](http://chachki-liaison.tumblr.com/ask) **~~


	6. Chapter Five

****_**Last** **Time**_

 _You were given a vote. With a vote of_ **3** _to_ **2** _, the winning choice goes to:_

_A.)   Bianca tells Katya to lead the way, not waiting a second longer to find Courtney._

* * *

Bianca turned to look at Violet, and she shook her head. “I’m not leaving Courtney.” She turned back to face Katya. “Lead the way.”

Katya nodded. “Of course. Let’s go. We need to hurry.”

Violet shook her head as she placed the journal back into the back of her shorts. She really hoped they were making the right choice.

~~~

Courtney sat and threw her little rocks at the wall of the hole. So bored. So very, very bored. So very, very, very, very, very bored. Maybe she could write a song about how boring it was being stuck in a hole? It was nothing like Wonderland.

“Where are you?”

Courtney jerked her head up. Who was that?

“Violet? Where are you?”

Pearl? It was Pearl! Was Violet missing too now? Courtney shook her head. No, she’d worry about Violet later. She needed to get Pearl’s attention first. She opened her mouth, ready to call out.

~~~

As Katya led them through the forest, going around twists and turns at a constant quick pace, Bianca couldn’t help but feel anxious. She was anxious over what Violet had said, and even though it seemed far fetched, the hard look in Violet’s eyes convinced her that there really was something dangerous out there, and Katya confirmed it when she told them what happened to Trixie. Bianca couldn’t help but feel guilty for sending Trixie back alone, but her guilt over what happened to Trixie just made her all the more determined to find Courtney before the same fate befell her.

Katya’s heart pounded in her chest. She hoped she wasn’t too late. She prayed that when they got there, that she wouldn’t discover that she had broken her promise to Courtney.

As they walked, Violet kept her eyes and ears peeled for any noise. Every cricket’s chirp, every mouse that scurried under the leaves, every hoot from an owl. None of it went passed her. As they walked, Violet hoped that they found Courtney alive and well. Two deaths were far too many for her already.

“Violet?”

Violet jerked her head up as her feet froze. “Stop,” she whispered.

“Violet? Where are you?”

Bianca furrowed her eyebrows. “Is that…Pearl?”

Violet shook her head. “No.”

“Where are you? Violet?”

Katya’s eyes widened. “It’s coming from up ahead, where Courtney is.” No, no, no, no. Dammit!  She couldn’t fail, not like this, not when they were so close!

Bianca shook her head. “No.” Bianca stepped forward and walked passed Katya.

Violet’s eyes widened. “What are you doing? You’re going to get yourself killed!” she whispered-yelled.

“I’m not leaving her.”

Katya’s eyes darted between Bianca and Violet. She didn’t know what to do. Part of her just wanted to shimmy back up a tree, back to safely, but she promised Courtney. She promised…

Violet let out a huff of breath. “Fine, fine. You want to be an idiot, fine,” Violet, with careful and quiet steps, walked over to Bianca and grabbed her shoulder, “but you are not going over there with guns blazing. You follow my lead and, just maybe, we keep it from spotting us or Courtney.”

Bianca glared at Violet. “Fine.”

With careful and quiet steps, and many halts made by Violet after they all turned off their flashlights, they stepped closer to the bushes that concealed the hole Courtney was. A figure with Pearl’s silhouette stood mere yards away. Katya nodded to the trees they stood by, and with the creature’s back to them, they started to slowly climb. Violet kept her eyes on the ghoul, ready  to freeze the second it turned around. Her skin crawled every time her name passed through its lips.

“Pearl? I’m over here!”

Violet’s eyes widened as her heart pounded in her chest. Violet watched as the ghoul’s head jerked in the direction where Courtney was hidden. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Off to the side, Violet heard a foot scrape against bark. She whipped her head back and saw Bianca, with wide eyes and a hard set mouth, take a step down from the trunk. And she calls me an idiot, Violet thought.

“Where are you?”

Violet turned her attention back to the ghoul. She had to stop this, before it got to Courtney, before Bianca did something stupid, before she lost another one of her friends…

“Down here!”

Light and movement. It was attracted to movement, but hated light. Once she came up with a plan, hopefully one that would work, Violet wrapped one arm tight around the tree trunk and then pulled out the flashlight she had barely been able to cram into her pocket.

Here goes nothing, she thought.

Violet flicked the flashlight on. “Hey!”

Katya’s breath hitched as she turned her own worried eyes from where she was already perched up on a high branch down to look at Violet. What are you doing? she thought. What are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing? Her hands shook from where they grasped the tree branch.

The ghoul’s head snapped in Violet’s direction as soon as she had called out, and when Violet saw that it had seen the light, she chucked the flashlight into the forest, away from them and away from Courtney. With a growl, the ghoul’s body shifted into a more canine form right before it bounded off into the forest and after the flashlight.

Violet’s forehead hit the trunk of the tree. She did it.

About half a minute after Bianca saw the creature transform and run off into the forest, she scrambled down the tree. There really was a monster. Bianca pushed that thought off to the side. She’d worry about it later. Behind her, she heard shoes scrape against bark as the other two queens made their way back down, but rather than wait for them, she ran over to where she heard Courtney’s voice.

“Courtney? You there?”

Courtney’s heart pounded in her chest. What had just happened? She heard Pearl, and then she thought she heard Violet yell, and then she heard that growl. That growl would haunt her dreams for a long time to come. When she heard Bianca’s voice, she just about wanted to break down.

“B-bianca? I-is that you?”

Bianca let out a breath of air she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “Yeah, it’s me, you dumb bitch. Only you could make me worry this much over a stupid ho.”

Courtney, with a shaky breath, smiled. Even through the insults, she could hear Bianca’s worry and relief over finding her. Bianca may not have always been the best at communicating comfort through her words, but she more than showed her love through her actions.

“Roy,” Violet said as she stomped over with Katya close at her heels, “you should have waited to make sure it was gone. What if it had gotten you?”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “I waited long enough.” She turned her eyes to look at Katya, and she nodded her head to the hole. “A little help here, whore?”

Katya gave a little smile and nod, even with Bianca’s harsh tone. She did it. She kept her promise.

After a brief discussion, Katya jumped back into the hole so she could lift Courtney up, and then Bianca would pull her the rest of the way up while Violet kept watch for the creature. Once Courtney was out of the hole, her face covered with streaks of tears and dirt, she wrapped her arms around Bianca as she let out hitched sobs.

Bianca ran one hand through Courtney’s short, blonde hair as her other arm squeezed her against her body. “Shh, it’s okay, you’re okay, shh…”

After a few minutes, Courtney got control over herself. Bianca handed her flashlight over to Violet who took the lead on their way back to the cabin while Courtney put her arms around Bianca and Katya’s shoulders as she hobbled behind.

~~~

When Violet saw the edge of the tree line that led to the clearing where their cabins were located, she smiled. It seemed like they made it. They actually made it. The closer they got, the more Violet’s shoulders relaxed. They were almost there.

“Where are you?”

Violet froze. What was Adore doing outside?

“Why did we stop?” Courtney asked. “Wasn’t that Adore?”

Violet shook her head as she flipped off the flashlight. “I told her to stay inside.”

After making sure Bianca had Courtney, Katya made her way up to the edge of the woods with Violet as they looked over at the figure that looked and sounded like Adore. It moved like the creature did when it had taken over Trixie’s body. It moved with stiff and halting steps, as if uncomfortable in a strange new body.

Katya turned to look at Bianca and Courtney and shook her head.

Bianca frowned. “How can you be so certain? What if she’s just worried about us? What if–”

A growl sounded from their right. They all froze. Courtney buried her head into Bianca’s chest to muffle her hitched breaths. Violet and Katya looked out into the clearing as the Adore figure turned to look in the direction of the growl and hunched its back.

“Where are you?” It came out as more of a growl than a question.

The canine-like creature they had seen earlier burst from the tree line with a roar as it charged at the creature that looked like Adore. With wide eyes, Violet and Katya watched as the creature that looked like Adore transform back to its true form, skeletal with sparse fur and dripping fangs.

Violet slapped a hand to her mouth. She hadn’t gotten a good look when the beast that had Pearl’s body transformed, and it had left so quickly too. Violet could have never imagined it to be so grotesque. Was this what Pearl had seen before she…

Out of the corner of her eye, Katya saw Violet’s shoulders begin to shake as she stared at the two creatures fighting in the light of the moon. With a careful glance that the two creatures were too occupied with each other, Katya wrapped her arm around Violet and pulled her against her chest.

Violet clung to Katya’s shirt as she stared over at the creatures fighting with one another. Maybe, if they were lucky, they’d kill each other. She could hear muffled hitched breaths behind her and felt Katya’s warm, firm hand rub against her back and a fast yet steady heartbeat against her face.

With a yowl, one ghoul took off for the forest, and the other gave chase. The four of them listened as the growls and roars faded as they went deeper and deeper into the forest. Once it became silent again, Katya went back over to Courtney, and the four of them began to walk back to the cabin with heavy hearts. As they got closer, off to the side, Violet saw an odd lump on the ground. When she realized what it was, or, who it was, she stumbled.

“What’s wrong, Vi?”

Violet swallowed. “Later.” Violet focused her eyes on the cabin door and only the cabin door. “Let’s just get inside.”

~~~

After they got inside and got Courtney settled on the sofa, Bianca turned to look at Violet. “So, Adore’s dead.”

Violet crossed her arms and looked at the floor. “Yeah.”

Bianca spun and kicked a side table over, and the wood splintered from the impact. Katya jumped from her spot in the kitchen where she had been getting a glass of water for Courtney.

“Why the fuck didn’t you stay with her! How could you have been so fucking stupid and selfish? Adore’s dead,” Bianca’s voice broke on the word dead, “because of you!”

Violet squeezed her arms as she stared at the wood floor. She said nothing.

“What? Did you just stand around as Pearl died as well? Well, did you? Answer me, god dammit!”

“Stop it!” Courtney screamed, and Bianca whipped her head to look at her. “Just…stop it, please.” Courtney shook her head as her eyes filled with tears. “We can’t blame each other.”

“It is my fault though,” a small voice answered. Everyone’s heads turned to look at Violet who continued to stare at the slowly blurring ground. “If I hadn’t gone off on my own, Pearl wouldn’t have gone after me. I don’t know what happened to Adore, but if I hadn’t left her alone, she probably would still be alive as well. And none of us should have let Trixie go off alone…” Violet looked up as a couple tears slid down her face. “What do you want to do, B?”

Bianca stared at Violet for a moment as some of her anger abated before she responded. “I want to kill those things.”

Violet wiped her eyes and nodded. “Okay.”

Violet pulled out the journal, and between Bianca and her, they discovered that bombs were the most effective way of killing them for good. He also had detailed notes of all the locations of the various small bombs and traps he had planted for the ghouls.

“So, we get a couple bombs and make a trap in the second cabin for them.”

Bianca nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” Bianca turned to look at Courtney. “Do you think you’ll be okay on your own again?”

Courtney’s eyes widened. She knew she couldn’t sway Bianca into stopping her plan, but leaving her alone? Again? “Can’t Katya stay with me?”

Bianca shook her head. “We need all the manpower we can get. Disabling the bombs and keeping watch for them is going to be very difficult for just the two of us. So long as you stay inside with the lights on, you’ll be okay.”

Courtney turned her eyes to Katya. “Katya?”

Katya looked at Courtney who looked so helpless as she sat on the couch, and then she turned to look at Bianca and Violet, only two people to brave the danger of the two monsters, and she was the fastest climber.

* * *

~~Now, you the reader have a choice to make. A or B?~~

~~A.) Katya stays with Courtney.~~

~~B.) Katya goes with Violet and Bianca.~~

~~You will have 48-72 hours to cast your vote(s).~~   
~~**[Submit your choice to my ask box](http://chachki-liaison.tumblr.com/ask) **~~


	7. Chapter Six

_**Last** **Time**_

_You were given a vote. With a vote of_ 5 _to_ 10 _, the winning choice goes to:_

_B.) Katya goes with Violet and Bianca._

* * *

Katya turned to look at Courtney with sadness and regret in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Court, but you’re safe now in here.” She bit her lip as she turned to glance at Bianca and Violet before she added, “Plus, we need to do something about those things. Who knows just how accurate that journal is anyway. For all we know, they may not even let us get back to the car in the morning,” Katya sat down next to Courtney, “and we certainly can’t call for help with this busted signal.” A sigh escaped her as she stared down at her knees. “You’ll be safe here while we get rid of them, and then we’ll get you to a hospital,” Katya glanced back up at Courtney with slightly watery eyes, “okay?”

Courtney wrapped her arms around Katya and buried her head into Katya’s neck as she nodded her head. She didn’t want to see Katya go; she didn’t want to be left alone again, but she understood. “Okay.”

Bianca headed over to the pair and looked down at Katya. “Let’s go.”

As Katya pulled away from Courtney, Courtney looked between Katya and Bianca with wide worried eyes. “You’ll be back soon, right? It won’t take you that long to get the stuff. Right?”

Bianca cracked a small smile as she grabbed Courtney’s dirt-covered hand to give it a squeeze. “You’ll barely even miss us.” A faint twinkle appeared in Bianca’s eye. “Plus, you won’t have to deal with Violet’s rank ass smell for a little while, so that’s a plus.”

“Hey!”

Katya let out a cackle as she stared at Violet’s affronted expression, her first laugh in what seemed like eons.

“What, did you forget your deodorant again, you dumb whore? Do we need to get you an air freshener to hang around your neck?”

Courtney let out a giggle as Violet and Bianca bickered as they left through the front door, and she gave Katya a small wave when she turned to give her a smile as she followed behind the pair before she shut the door behind her, leaving Courtney alone in a brightly lit cabin. They would be okay. She would be fine, and everything would turn out good. Bianca and Katya were right, and everything would be fine.

She hoped.

~

Courtney lay on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. She had counted the beams of wood far too many times as she waited for her friends to return. While she was glad that nothing had happened to her since they had left, that she was safe like they told her she would be, she couldn’t help but feel bored. Though, the boredom was much more preferred than the worry she had for her friends – for Bianca, for Katya, for Violet. Worrying about them when she could do nothing to help, though, had just made her panic, so she put those worries to the back of her mind. Instead, she told herself that they’d be back soon, that she was fine, and so she counted the ceiling beams until she went from a worried state to calm and eventually bored state of mind.

 _Screech_ …

Courtney sat up and looked towards the covered window. She thought she heard something that sounded like– 

 _Screech_ …

Courtney’s eyes widened when she recognized the sound. Nails against glass. Or, in this case, they were more likely claws.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine,” she whispered to herself as she hunched her shoulders, trying to become smaller. “The door’s shut, it can’t get me. It’ll be okay. It’ll get bored and leave–”

 _Screech_ …

Courtney closed her eyes as she began to count the seconds in between scratches.   

~

As Violet led Bianca and Katya through the forest to where she had discovered the small, makeshift bomb, they luckily had come across no encounters with the ghouls, though it did not leave them feeling safe or content. Instead, they couldn’t help but wonder and fear where they had gone and when they’d show up again.

Violet saw the sprung trap and the brush. “Here it is.”

Bianca pushed herself ahead, and then she kneeled down to look through the leaves until she found the object Violet had seen. “You sure this is it?”

Violet nodded even though Bianca couldn’t see her. “Yeah, that’s it.” Violet flipped open the journal with one hand while she held her flashlight with her other. “He said that he planted explosives next to his traps, so that’s gotta be one, right?”

As Violet looked through the journal, Katya came over to squat next to Bianca to look at said explosive. “I guess it could be. How’s it say it works?”

Violet flipped a few pages before she held the journal out to Katya and Bianca, and Bianca snatched it from her. With a small frown, Violet held the flashlight over the pages so the two of them could read the notes on how to disarm and arm the bomb.

Katya’s brows furrowed as she looked back and forth between the explosive and the notes. “It looks like how he describes it, but he’s, like, speaking a whole other language with his instruction. It makes no sense.”

Violet frowned as she looked over to Bianca who had a deep set frown and a scrunched up forehead. “Roy?”

Bianca gave her head a small shake. “No. No, no, no. We did not come all this way for nothing. We’ve gotta figure this out.”

“These instructions make no sense, B,” Katya said. “Unless you want to start poking at something that can kill us all with one wrong move, then be my guest, but before you go and do something stupid like that, just think about just who is depending on us back at the cabin.”

“That’s why we have to do something!”

Violet jumped back at Bianca’s yell, and her eyes darted around her as she hoped nothing else heard Bianca.

“We will. But we need a new plan.”

The flashlight in Violet’s hand began to flicker.

“What else do we fucking have then? It needs to be some-fucking-thing that destroys them completely, and what the fuck do we have? Nothing!”

Violet hit the flashlight a few times before it finally went out completely. “Shit,” she said under her breath.

“Maybe there’s something else in the book. There’s gotta be some other way.”

“The asshole who made it certainly didn’t seem to have other fucking ideas since he used the fucking bombs in the first place.”

Violet dropped the dead flashlight, and she felt around her pockets for something. Anything.

“Well, he clearly wasn’t successful there, so maybe we can come up with something better!”

Pearl’s lighter. Violet pulled it out and flicked it on. Fire.

“I think,” Violet said as she stared at the flickering flame, “I may have an idea.”

Bianca and Katya turned to look at Violet with expectant eyes.   –   
Courtney had closed her eyes when the scratches became accompanied by multiple growls. It sounded like they were both out there.  “Please go away, please go away, please go away…” she whispered to herself. Weren’t they supposed to get bored and leave at some point?

A roar came from outside.

Courtney squeezed her eyes tighter. At least she did until she noticed a change in light from behind her eyelids. She cautiously blinked her eyes open.

The cabin was dark.

One of the creatures snarled from outside.

“Oh, God, no…” Courtney’s eyes watered as she scrambled off the couch to sit on the floor.

_Bang!_

Courtney’s head snapped over to look at the cabin door as one of the creatures growled from the other side. It sounded like it threw its body at the door.

_Bang!_

Tears fell from Courtney’s eyes as she held back a scream. 

  ~ 

After they talked over the new plan, Violet, Bianca, and Katya made their way back to the cabin to fill Courtney in on it. As they approached the edge of the tree line with nothing happening, all of them felt their shoulders relax. It seemed like things were finally going their way.

However, when they stepped over to the edge, they all froze. The cabin’s windows were dark.

Bianca pushed past Violet and Katya with wide eyes. “Why are the lights off?”

Katya’s hands started to sweat. “M-maybe the fuse w-went out again?”

Violet reached over and grabbed Katya’s hand. She gave the sweaty palm a squeeze. “Maybe. But with our luck tonight, I doubt it.”

Katya scoffed. “Yeah, like I needed that.”

“Sorry.” Violet gave Katya’s hand another squeeze as she looked back at her. “Just…trying not to get my hopes up I guess.”

Katya nodded and pressed her forehead against Violet’s temple, accepting her apology.

As they talked, Bianca took a deep breath and started forward.

Violet’s eyes widened as she pulled her head away from Katya. “Bianca? What are you doing?”

Bianca paused. “Making sure Courtney’s alright, what the fuck do you think, cunt?”

Violet sighed as she took a step forward with Katya by her side. “At least slow down. We need to be prepared for anything. We can’t just charge forward like that”

“Fine.” Bianca rolled her eyes as she continued forward at a slightly slower pace.

Violet let out a huff as she and Katya followed behind. The two of them kept their ears and eyes peeled for any sign of trouble.

All was quiet.

The three of them made it to the closed cabin door, and when Katya shined her still working flashlight on it, they could see gouges made by claws.   
 With a deep breath and hard eyes, Bianca swung the door open. It was nearly impossible to see anything, it was so dark. The silent air made whatever hair they had stand on end.

“Courtney?” Bianca whispered.

After a beat of silence, a soft voice answered, “Bianca?”

Bianca let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “Yeah, where are you?”

They heard a sniffle. “Over here.”

Violet grabbed Bianca’s shoulder. When Bianca turned an annoyed look back at her, Violet simply said, “Careful.” Understanding what she meant, Bianca nodded.

Katya shined her light forward as the three of them made their way over to the dining table. Bianca and Katya crouched down and there they found Courtney. Her bad leg laid out in front of her from dragging it as she crawled under the table to hide. Her face was streaked with tear tracks.  

Bianca let out a sigh of relief at seeing Courtney safe and sound. She was far too unkempt to be anything but the real Courtney. “Cunt, what on earth are you doing under the table?”

Courtney let a small smile crack. Bianca’s light insult made her feel almost normal again. “Th-they were o-outs-side.”

“Well, they were gone when we got here. Let’s get you back to the couch.”

Courtney gave her a nod. Violet, Bianca, and Katya picked up the table and moved it a few feet away from Courtney, and then, after Katya placed her flashlight on the table, Bianca and Katya helped Courtney stand back up. As Courtney got herself stabilized, Violet glanced up the small flight of stairs to the loft.

“Hey, B, think you can go check on the gas in the kitchen? Make sure it’ll work for our plan? I’m gonna go check for some matches upstairs.”

Bianca gave a nod as she looked at Katya and Courtney. “You two good without me?”

Katya nodded as she wrapped her arm tighter around Courtney. “Yeah, I got her.”

Bianca let go of Courtney and headed towards the kitchen. Violet grabbed ahold of the banister as she prepared to check out the loft. Katya and Courtney took a few hobbled stepped towards the couch.

 _Creak_ …

All of them whipped their heads over. They had forgotten to shut the door behind them.

One ghoul stepped inside, its face and body bathed in shadows. It took a few steps inside before it lifted its muzzle to the air to sniff. The second ghoul appeared behind the first, and when it bumped into the first, the first turned to snarl at it. The second growled back as it cowered from the first.

Violet took a risk to look at Bianca who had almost made it to the kitchen before she froze and who was indirectly in front of the ghouls’ path. She then turned her head to look at Katya and Courtney who stood frozen near the couch, the closest to the monsters. Katya gave her a worried look back as Courtney stared at the two ghouls in frozen fear. With gritted teeth, Violet looked at Katya, then to the front door, then back to Katya before she mouthed, ‘On my signal.’ After Violet trusted that Katya got her message, she focused her attention back on the ghouls who had started to make their way around the back of the couch. When she saw them start to sniff the air in Katya and Courtney’s direction, Violet took a small step away from the stairs and towards the table where she slowly grabbed the still lit flashlight.

At the sight of light moving, both creatures snapped their heads over in Violet’s direction and snarled. With a shaky breath, Violet tossed the flashlight to the furthest corner which happened to be situated behind her.

The creatures, snarling and frothing at the mouth, leapt across the corner of the couch, and they narrowly missed brushing against Katya and Courtney as they charged at the flashlight. Before either of them reached it, they growled, hissed, and scratched at the other, as if they needed to dominate the other before they could go for the kill.

With her heart pounding in her chest, Katya and Courtney began to shuffle their way to the exit while the creatures had their backs turned. Their scuffling muffled the noise of their own feet.

As Courtney and Katya made their way to the exit, Violet turned her head to look at Bianca, and once they made eye contact, Violet mouthed, ‘Do it,’ as she took a quiet step back towards the stairs while she prayed they weren’t facing her.  

Bianca nodded, though before she could take another step towards the kitchen, Courtney stumbled.

“Ah!”

Both creatures lifted their heads to face the direction of the sound.

Katya was pulling Courtney back up.

The ghouls snarled as they both crouched down, as they prepared to pounce.

Violet’s eyes widened.

Bianca focused her eyes completely on Courtney who was having difficulty finding her balance.

“Hey!” Violet yelled.

Both creatures turned to face her direction, a mere two or three yards from her.

* * *

~~Now, you the reader have not one, but two choices to make. A or B?~~

~~**Choice One** :~~

~~A.) Violet runs up the stairs~~

~~B.) Violet freezes~~

~~**Choice Two** :~~

~~A.) Bianca runs towards Courtney and Katya to help get Courtney to safety~~

~~B.) Bianca goes to the kitchen and turns on the gas~~

~~You will have 48-72 hours to cast your votes.~~   
~~**[Submit your choice to my ask box](http://chachki-liaison.tumblr.com/ask) ** ~~


	8. Chapter Seven

_**Last** **Time**_

_You were given two votes._

_Choice One:  
With a vote of _ **17** _to_ **4** _, the winning choice goes to:_

_A.) Violet runs up the stairs_

_Choice Two_   
_With a vote of_ **1** _to_ **20** _, the winning choice goes to:_

_B.) Bianca goes to the kitchen and turns on the gas_

* * *

Sound seemed to disappear. Only the thumping of her heart echoed in Violet’s ears as she stared at the two shadowed faces of the ghouls as they stared back in her direction. Violet could hardly even think.

Have to get out, have to get out, have to escape…

With adrenaline coursing through her veins, Violet vaulted over the banister and onto the staircase as she began to sprint away from the ghouls.

Their snarls joined the thumping bass of her heart.

~

Bianca took a step back as she stared at Courtney and Katya. Off to her side, she heard Violet move and the monsters give chase. She had to trust that Katya would keep Courtney safe. She had because she couldn’t do anything that would jeopardize the plan. With a single breath, Bianca turned and sprinted over to the stove, and she cranked the gas on.

One ghoul, only a fraction of the way up the stairs and trailing behind the other, turned its head in her direction. It let loose a guttural growl just before it leapt off the stairs and towards Bianca.

~

When Violet had yelled, Katya’s head snapped up. No, no, no, no, no! Katya’s mind twisted itself  into knots as panic churned her stomach. Violet couldn’t, she can’t… Katya couldn’t even process the thought. She needed to do something. She wouldn’t stand around while those things tore into Violet like they did Trixie. She couldn’t. With wide eyes and muscles tense, Katya watched as the creatures chased Violet up the stairs.

“Katya? Ah…” Courtney let out a whimper.

Katya’s looked back down at Courtney. Courtney, who was a sitting duck without her. She promised Courtney she’d be safe. But Violet… With her heart feeling like lead, Katya bent down and picked Courtney up. Katya sent a quick prayer that Violet would find someway of making it out, that whatever she had planned worked out.

With Courtney in her arms, Katya ran out the open front door, and she didn’t stop until they reached the tree line.

~

As soon as Bianca cranked on the gas, she ran for the backdoor. She could hear the monster behind her snarling. She yanked it open and stumbled passed the threshold. Barely catching herself from falling, Bianca spun around and slammed the door shut just as the ghoul caught up. She could hear it bash its face into the door.

With panting breaths, Bianca took hesitant steps backwards as she listened to the monster claw and snarl against the shut door. The further she got, the quicker her steps became. Did she actually make it?

~

Violet’s mind and thoughts narrowed until she could only focus on one thing at a time. As she ran up the stairs, skipping as many steps as her long legs could manage, Violet slid Pearl’s lighter out of her pocket. She had no time to look for anything else; she’d just have to have faith that the flame would hold.

Just before she made it up the stairs, she saw a glass window. She flicked the lighter on and dropped it. She couldn’t watch it fall. She couldn’t see if the flame held as it hit the ground floor. She couldn’t see if it would make contact with the gas, if the gas had been on long enough for it to begin to seep through the cabin. All Violet could do was run for the window.

The snarls and growls at her back just made her push her legs harder, faster, and just as she reached the window, she felt a surge of heat at her back.

She ran. She ran for the old glass, and with closed eyes, she jumped through it.

~

**_One Month Later_ **

It was a hot day in Azuza. The sun was scorching in the sky. Bianca had her hand against Courtney’s back as Courtney hobbled her way to a chair set up in the back row with her crutches and walking cast while Katya pushed Violet’s wheelchair to an open spot off to the side along the same row as Courtney and Bianca. Katya sat down in the empty foldout chair next to Violet, and she picked up Violet’s hand and gave it a squeeze while the four of them waited for the rest of the seats to be filled.

It was Adore’s funeral. They had all flown together from Florida where they had attended Pearl’s funeral only a few days prior, and before that, Wisconsin for Trixie’s. It had been a long month for them. After the police and the doctors had ruled that they had all suffered from mass hallucinations from a gas leak, that their friends had died from horrific animal attacks, and now the funerals, they were all exhausted and ready to just take a break from the world. Courtney and Violet both though still had a lot of physical therapy to go through, Courtney for her maimed leg and Violet for her broken ankle and wrist. Their lasting injuries made it nearly impossible to forget about what had happened for even a moment.

All four of them had been recommended therapists. Bianca had straight up refused while Violet and Katya had given up after only a handful of sessions. Only Courtney still went; she needed to talk to someone about her guilt over being unable to do anything to prevent her friends’ deaths, and she knew that Bianca, Katya, and Violet refused to truly listen to her. They were all filled with their own guilt, and none of them could process how she could feel guilt when they all saw her as a victim.

Having a neutral party in the therapy did wonders for Courtney, but what helped her the most was having Bianca lay beside her every night. With both of them living in LA, it made sense for them both to just move in together. It only took Courtney an hour of being alone in her apartment  when they got back before she called Bianca, needing her familiarity near, and there Bianca was, and she hadn’t left Courtney’s side for longer than a food run since.

With Violet and Katya, after they had been checked out, Violet just followed Katya back to Boston. When Katya went to buy a plane ticket for Boston once they were cleared to go home, Violet just told her to get two, and, with no questions asked, Violet moved in with Katya. Katya couldn’t have been more grateful, especially after the first time Violet had woken her from a nightmare. The nightmares plagued Katya every night, the ghouls taking Courtney into the dark, them killing Trixie, them chasing Violet up the stairs and killing her. Terrified screams echoed in her ears when she woke.

Violet herself didn’t seem to get nightmares, but that had more to do with the fact that she simply didn’t sleep. She refused to after she woke screaming from images of Pearl, of Katya, of Bianca, Courtney, Adore, Trixie burning to death. At first, she’d stay up and work on new costumes, and every prick of a needle on her fingers felt like a little penance for the mistakes she’d made – the mistakes that got Adore, that got Pearl, that even got Trixie killed. However, when Katya discovered the amount of pricks on her fingers, she began to carry Violet to bed with her, and while Violet wouldn’t necessarily sleep, she’d run her fingers through Katya’s short blond locks and let her mind drift to nothingness as she stared at the walls lit by night-lights; both she and Katya had agreed that they could no longer sleep in complete darkness at all. Once she began physical therapy, she began to push herself as far as she could, push herself until she exhausted herself to the point she’d just pass out and her mind would be too worn out for dreams of any kinds most of the time.

As the four of them sat in the back row, listening to the eulogy out in the baking sun, they couldn’t help but reflect on how they all somehow got out. How they all managed to survive.

~

Once Katya and Courtney made it to the tree line, Katya set Courtney down and turned to look at the cabin.

“Come on, Vi, come on,” she muttered under her breath.

Courtney wrapped her arms around herself as she stared as well, hoping and praying to see Bianca and Violet run out of the cabin.

In the still and silent air, Katya felt her heart drop to her stomach when she saw Violet leap out of the second story window as flames licked at her legs. When Violet hit the ground, Katya sprinted over, uncaring and unthinking of anything other than getting to Violet.

Violet lay still on the grass, eyes closed, as blood dripped from gashes on her forehead and cheeks.

“Oh, God… Oh, God; oh, God; oh, God…” Katya kneeled down beside Violet’s still body. She felt cold and numb as she stared down at Violet. With a trembling hand, she placed her fingers at Violet’s neck, and only once she felt the steady beat of a heart did she feel like she could breathe again.

When Bianca saw the flames, she let out a choked gasp. They did it? Maybe?

Shaking it off, Bianca ran around the cabin until she spotted Courtney’s filthy blonde head over by the trees on the opposite side of the cabin, and she sprinted over.

“Oh, God, you’re okay,” Bianca said as she collapsed onto her knees in front of Courtney. She placed both hands on either side of Courtney’s face as she stared at her, taking in every injury marring her usually soft face. “You’re okay.” Bianca smiled, dimples unable to be hidden even in the darkness of the night.

Courtney smiled back at Bianca as her eyes watered, overwhelmed from everything. “I’m okay. You’re okay t-too,” her voice cracked.

“God,” Bianca ran her fingers through the dirt covered blonde hair, “don’t you ever fucking scare me like that again, bitch.” Bianca pulled Courtney into a tight hug. “You clumsy fucking idiot.”

Courtney let out a watery chuckle as she breathed in Bianca’s familiar scent.

When Katya failed to rouse Violet, she took a few deep breaths before she lifted Violet and carried her limp body over to Courtney and Bianca. Her bottom lip trembled as she sat down with Violet cradled in her lap. She couldn’t do anything except hope that Violet would wake. Please, she prayed, please let me not be too late. Please let her wake up and be okay. As she held Violet, she stared at the cabin, waiting to see if anything would come back out, as the flames took over.

Nothing did.  

Bianca, Courtney, and Katya watched the flames for about half an hour when Violet finally stirred with a groan.

“Vi, you waking up, Princess?”

Violet groaned, and she brought her hands up to rub her eyes.

“Ah!” Violet’s eyes shot open as she screamed. She clutched her wrist to her chest.

Katya’s eyes widened as Bianca and Courtney turned to look at her.

“Vi, what’s wrong? Are you okay? What hurts, Princess?”

Violet squeezed her eyes shut, the pain making them water, as she held her wrist tight against her chest. “M-my w-wrist. It fu-fucking hur-hurts!”

“Let me see.” Bianca held her hand out towards Violet.

Violet took a few deep breaths before she placed her hand in Bianca’s; though, the second Bianca moved it, pain shot through Violet’s arm, and she yanked it back with a cry.

Katya wrapped her arms around Violet as she held her close while she looked over at Bianca, silently asking her what was wrong.

“It looks pretty bruised up. It might be broken.”

“N-n-no sh-shi-it, d-dick.”

Bianca allowed a little smirk to appear before she looked at the sky which was slowly brightening as the dawn came. “We should get going. I want out of this hellhole.”

The rest agreed, though when Violet attempted to stand, they discovered her leg was busted from her fall as well. After a brief discussion, Katya ended up carrying Violet while Courtney clung to Bianca as a crutch as they made their way down the path in the direction of their abandoned van.  When they reached the halfway point, after many pauses for rest, they heard sirens. As the sirens got louder, the four of them sat down on the road.

When the firetrucks appeared, all of them felt like crying.   

~

  The firetrucks had come due to a “wild fire” – the fire that had overtaken the old shack where Pearl had died – and when they discovered the four of them, they contacted the police and paramedics. After the police and paramedics, after being patched up, after their questioning, after their mental evaluations, all of them were ready to be done, and now, a month later at the last funeral, they were just about there. All of them were ready to move on from the nightmare.

As Adore’s mother spoke about her baby, about they joy she brought to everyone that had ever encountered her, Bianca pulled Courtney close. Bianca knew she should have taken better care of Adore, but she failed. She knew, though, that Adore, living her mermaid fantasy, would never have wanted her to spend her life in regret. She’d have wanted them all to live their lives to the fullest and full of love and all that sappy shit. She’d do it though, for Adore. For Trixie and Pearl too. Bianca placed a kiss to Courtney’s temple when she saw the tears falling down her face as she kept her own emotions in check. She’d let herself cry later, when it was just the four of them after the funeral.

When the funeral came to an end, the four survivors, after leaving their regards to Adore’s mother, left for the hotel they booked. They shared a double room; none of them really wanted to be separated from each other, not when they knew their emotions would be so high and they’d need people who would understand why. There, they shared their own memories of Adore, of her faith in them, of her bountiful youthful optimism, of the joy she brought to each of their lives. There, in those moments, Bianca let down her guard for failing Adore, for failing the kid she cared so much for, and she let Courtney comfort her. Violet clung to Katya as she rambled about all the guilt she had inside for failing Adore, for leaving her behind at the cabin, for not trusting her enough to come along while Katya rubbed her back and peppered her tear-streaked face with kisses.  

They told stories and cried until they all fell asleep from exhaustion – Courtney and Bianca in one bed, and Violet and Katya in the other. Though they all felt broken from that cabin, their bodies and spirits, the bonds that had developed between them had become damn near unbreakable. They were a family through and through, and nothing could separate them.

 


	9. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is a little bonus for you all. Underneath the cut are all the results to all the choices you have been asked to vote upon. See below how you could have saved or killed them all.

                      

**(Warning, spoilers for the whole fic beyond this point)**

* * *

**Prologue**    
Vote: 11–3

 _A.) Katya, seeing how drunk Courtney is, agrees to go with her to check the fusebox  
_ Result – Katya and the reader see the monster that took Courtney  
_B.) Katya tells Courtney that she has faith in her own abilities but gives Courtney her lighter_  
Result – Katya and the reader are left in the dark over Courtney’s disappearance, and Katya wanders off into the forest when Courtney doesn’t return back to the cabin after 10-15 minutes

 **Chapter One**  
Vote: 12–4

 _A.) Trixie goes to answer Katya’s call for help.  
_ Result – Trixie dies  
_B.) Trixie goes back to find Bianca, Pearl, and Violet to lead them to where she heard Katya’s call for help come from._  
Result – Trixie lives and would have stayed with Bianca until they returned to the cabin

 **Chapter Two**  
Vote: 1–67

 _A.) Pearl agrees with Bianca and stays with her to continue the search for Courtney and Katya.  
_ Result – Pearl lives and would have stayed with Bianca until they returned to the cabin where she would have stayed with Courtney if Courtney lived and Adore and Trixie had died or gone with Violet if not  
_B.) Pearl disagrees with Bianca and decides to leave her behind to look for Violet._  
Result – Pearl dies

 **Chapter Three**  
Vote: 6–7

 _A.) Violet stays in the cabin with Adore  
_ Result – Adore lives, and the two of them look through the journal together as they hope Bianca chooses to return soon  
_B.) Violet goes out in search of the others to warn them about the ghoul_  
Result – Adore dies by trying to be useful on her own

 **Chapter Four**  
Vote: 3–2

 _A.) Bianca tells Katya to lead the way, not waiting a second longer to find Courtney.  
_ Result – They find Courtney, and Courtney lives  
_B.) Bianca, with a heavy heart, says Courtney will have to wait until morning._  
Result – They go back to the cabin, and Courtney dies alone when the ghoul climbs down the hole with her

 **Chapter Five**  
Vote: 5–10

 _A.) Katya stays with Courtney  
_ Result – When the noises begin and the lights go out, Katya would look out the window, alerting the ghouls that she was there where they’d then break through the window and go after her  
_B.) Katya goes with Violet and Bianca_  
Result – Katya lives

 **Chapter Six**  
Vote One: 17–4  
Vote Two: 1–20

 ** _Choice One  
_**_A.) Violet runs up the stairs  
_ Result – Violet lives  
_B.) Violet freezes_  
Result – Violet would light the lighter and be caught in the inferno, killing her

 ** _Choice Two  
_**_A.) Bianca runs towards Courtney and Katya to help get Courtney to safety  
_ Result – One ghoul would slash her ankle, crippling her, before going after Violet. Bianca would lay still until the ghoul turned away to crawl over to the gas and turn it on. Too injured and slow to make it to the door, she’d get caught in the fiery explosion  
_B.) Bianca goes to the kitchen and turns on the gas_  
Result – Bianca lives


End file.
